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Barkley Regional Airport Awards First Construction Contract For New Terminal, Apron

Courtesy of Barkley Regional Airport Authority

  The Barkley Regional Airport Authority Board of Directors accepted grant funding in excess of $16 million during a special-called meeting today, allowingthem to formally award the first construction project as part of the new terminal and apron--a project that’s been in the works for decades.

Immediately following the board meeting, Barkley Regional Airport Authority Executive Director Dennis Rouleau said the grant documents were electronically signed by all required parties, including the Federal Aviation Administration, so the board was able to formally award the first construction project to Jim Smith Contracting (JSC) of Grand Rivers, Kentucky for just under $8 million.

 

Rouleau estimated the administrative phase of preparing for the construction project will take five or six weeks, including getting bonds and approving materials. After that, he said, is when the dirt work should begin.

 

The first construction phase, Rouleau explained, will include preparing the site which is currently farm fields. He said JSC crews will conduct grading and drainage work, install an access road for the new terminal, bring in utilities (gas, water, electricity, sewer) and prepare the site for the new apron as well. 

 

Rouleau said the contract allows JSC’s crews approximately one year to complete the project once they’re able to begin the work; weather permitting, it could be complete by this time next year, he added. He said the board and representatives with JSC will have a construction kick-off meeting in the very near future, and those sorts of details will be worked out at that point.

 

“This is very exciting news. This has been in the works for decades to build a new terminal and it’s finally happening,”  Rouleau told WKMS. “We want to thank Senator [Mitch] McConnell, Congressman [James] Comer, the FAA and the Department of Transportation for their support for this project. It’s been a long, long time coming and we are definitely due. This is the project for our future.”

 

Rouleau said the airport plans to have a formal groundbreaking ceremony in the near future.

Rachel’s interest in journalism began early in life, reading newspapers while sitting in the laps of her grandparents. Those interactions ignited a thirst for language and stories, and she recalls getting caught more than once as a young girl hiding under the bed covers with a flashlight and book because she just couldn’t stop reading.
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