The weather,

plane traffic and who knows what else have left their marks on the paved

runway, taxiways and aprons of Falcon Field.

The resulting

cracks will be repaired at a reduced cost to the Peachtree City Airport

Authority due to a state grant that will cover 75 percent of the project.

That means the authority will pay an estimated $3,200 of the total $13,200

cost, according to the calculations of Airport Manager Jim Savage.

This will be

the third time cracks have been sealed on the pavement at Falcon Field

since it was repaved between 1990 and 1994, Savage said.

The project

calls for cracks to be routed out and filled with an asphalt based sealant

to prevent water from becoming trapped which would cause the cracks to

become larger, Savage said. There are an estimated 22,000 linear feet

of cracks in pavement on the airport property.

The airport

may be repaved within the next five to 10 years according to the authority's

master plan, and this crack sealing project will help buy time needed

to reach those estimates, Savage indicated.

At its meeting

last week, the authority authorized Savage to enter a contract for the

project and state grant with the Georgia Department of Transportation.

The authority

also voted to pay for engineering designs to pave approximately 2,500

feet of Stallings Road. The road, which borders Falcon Field to the south,

is a gravel thoroughfare that leads to one of Peachtree City's sewer treatment

plants and undeveloped property west of the airport that is owned by Pathway

Communities.

The road paving

is necessary to provide access to a new commercial hangar area that features

six new hangar sites. The construction of that area has been completed

but the sites can't be used until the road is paved.

The authority

hopes to share the road construction costs between itself, Pathway Communities,

the Peachtree City Water and Sewer Authority and possibly the Peachtree

City Council.

The design

funds, which will be footed by the Airport Authority, will come out of

its reserve fund for the time being, according to Savage.

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