From Combat to Cargo
Former USAF Base Gets New Life as Cargo Hub
K. Robert Wendel

For more than 50 years, Williams Air Force Base southeast of Phoenix trained thousands of pilots on how to survive aerial combat, whether it was in a propeller-driven P-51 Mustang over Germany or in a super sonic F-16. But in 1992, the U.S. Air Force shuttered the airfield in east Mesa.

Over the next several years state and local leaders recognized opportunities at the land mass and buildings and created the Williams Gateway Airport Authority to redevelop the airfield and its the surrounding 3,000 acres.

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Now the airport is literally poised for take-off with the completion of renovated taxiways and a new cargo ramp. There also are plans for a new cargo facility, and the airport's goal is to eventually become the main cargo hub in the metro Phoenix area.

Crews from the Phoenix office of C.S. McCrossan Inc. are putting the finishing touches on the 500,000 sq. ft. of new cargo ramp, as well as three renovated taxiways. The airport's three runways can handle everything from tiny Cessna 152s to the AN-124, the world's largest airplane. Work on the $10.4 million project started in September 2002.

As with many old air bases, there were concerns about hazardous material ranging from JP-4 jet fuel contamination to lead contamination from old shooting ranges.

"What was underground gave us a lot more trouble than what you see above ground," said C.S. McCrossan project manager Rick Purdom. "One of our fears when we started was the amount of toxic waste. We even found asbestos in old duct banks."

C.S. McCrossan crews began the job by removing 1,200 ft. of old asphalt taxiway , which contractors recycled on site. Most of the material was reused as an aggregate base.

"We had limited FAA funding, so to maximize funding, we broke out some of the projects as alternative bids," said Jon Graf, a civil engineer in the Phoenix office of Kimley Horn and Associates, Inc. "This allowed the airport authority to select the bids and ensure an award with limited funding."

The concrete taxiways are 15.5 -in. thick, sitting on top of 6 -in. of asphalt, which is on top of 8 -in. of aggregate base course.

Dowels 1.25- in.- thick run along the longitude with the dowels spaced every 15- in. to transfer weight evenly. Contractors used more than 90,000 cu. yds of 6,000 psi concrete for the taxiways and cargo apron, with crews pouring some 200 cu. yds of concrete an hour.