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Air-traffic control<br>tower now online

Rising above the Kaibab National Forest treeline and keeping watch over Grand Canyon National Park Airport, the Federal Aviation Administration’s new air-traffic control tower went into operation last week.

Steve Ngo, left, and Larry Beck are glad to see the facility finally open.

A crew of eight air-traffic controllers plus the manager now have a roomy, high-tech operation to perform the important job of bringing in planes. And they’re doing it in a model setting.

"It’s a huge relief to get the place open," said Larry Beck, air-traffic manager. "It’s a long time coming; it was a long, tedious process."

Steve Ngo, electrical resident engineer who will be next headed to Sky Harbor Airport in Phoenix to work on a $40 million project, said the project wrapped up six to seven months behind schedule. The final price tag ended up at $8.97 million, which Ngo said was about $1 million over budget. The extra costs were associated with increased federal security requirements, which fell into place after Sept. 11.

It took about 2 1/2 years to build the facility. The ground-breaking occurred back on Nov. 9, 2000.

"The tower is the second FAA tower of this design," Ngo said. "It’s three floors higher than the one in Vegas."

The tower’s design originated in Canada, utilizing unique precast components. The base building covers 5,000 square feet and has 10 sides. The cab up top gives employees 525 square feet to work in, more than twice the size of the old tower. Built by Kiewit Western, the tower now serves as a model for future facilities around the country.

Beck said the two biggest advantages to the new tower is that extra room and the new high-tech computer equipment. The old tower located on the west side had just under 200 square feet of space and employees got to know each other too well. As for the equipment, state-of-the art monitors and an upgraded communications system put air-traffic controllers in a five-star setting. And Beck added, "we should be getting a radar system by the end of the year."

Bob Gomez, project manager, said the airport tower was built as an environmentally-safe facility, down to the 300-foot retaining wall made out of rock. The barrier in the forest serves as extra security, along with a complex monitoring system.

Although the air-traffic control tower officially became operational last week, there will still be a celebration within the next few months. Beck said a ribbon-cutting of sorts will be planned for sometime this spring in April or May.


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