DUVAL COUNTY, Fla. — The main runway at Naval Air Station Jacksonville will be shut down temporarily for a $52 million project.
The plan is to add 1,000 feet or overrun, concrete end caps, new asphalt and lighting. Officials said the project is badly needed.
Similar repairs had to be in September of last year after a large sinkhole, caused by a failed sewer line, opened up the main runway.
Officials said they are trying to prevent similar incidents.
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“We did have a lesson learned from that and we have fixed things related to that system,” Capt. Howard Wanamaker of NAS Jacksonville said.
Some operations will have to be moved to Cecil Airport during construction, which means the airspace on the Westside might be a little louder and a little more active.
NAS Jax is the third largest Navy base in the country, with about 30,000 to 40,000 flights each year.
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"This runway, this base is critical to naval aviation. We are the master ASW base for the Navy. That's anti-submarine warfare," Wanamaker said.
The last major overhaul and repair to the runways were done in 1967. The completion date of the latest project is set for June 2016.