--- In BATN@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, "2/23 Redwood City Daily" <batn@...> wrote: Published Friday, February 23, 2007, by the Redwood City Daily News FAA: Airports must upgrade runways SFO, Oakland International need to comply with new standards by 2012 By Mark Abramson Daily News Staff Writer The Federal Aviation Administration is requiring two Bay Area airports to make safety changes to their runways so planes can stop in case of an emergency. Some of the runway safety areas -- which are extensions at the end of runways that provide space for planes to stop in event of an emergency -- are not long enough at San Francisco and Oakland international airports. The FAA is requiring the upgrades to be made by 2012. In addition to meeting the 1,000-by-500-foot extension requirements, SFO also plans to widen and install a new lighting system on one of its taxiways, spokesman Mike McCarron said. The taxiway work is expected to take 120 days to complete and the FAA will reimburse the airport for 75 percent of the $2.6 million cost, he said. The project just went to bid, and a contractor for the work could be selected in three months. Required work at Oakland International could be more extensive and may include filling in part of the bay. It also includes installing engineered material arresting systems, which are similar to the safety areas but are made out of porous concrete that is designed to slow an aircraft down to a stop by collapsing under the plane's weight. Work for Oakland's main runway is expected to cost $15 million, and three other runway projects may cost $29 million. Arresting systems like the one slated for Oakland have been installed on 21 runways nationwide at 16 airports, including Burbank and San Diego, FAA officials said. One is being added at Chicago Midway International Airport after a December 2005 accident in which an airplane skidded out of control and into traffic, killing a 12-year- old boy. San Jose International Airport is already in compliance, FAA officials said. Airport officials said they performed the runway extension work after opening a new runway in 2001. "We had zero discrepancies (with the latest FAA requirements), which is what we shoot for," San Jose Airport spokesman Rich Dressler said. E-mail Mark Abramson at mabramson@... --- End forwarded message ---