Fri, Sep 05, 2003
16,000 x 200 Feet -- Reckon You Can Hit That?
Denver International
Airport officially opened runway 16R/34L for regular flight
operations on Thursday. The first operation on the new runway was a
United Airlines 777 departure, flight 244 to Chicago at 10:38 a.m.
local time.
The runway was built at a cost of approximately $166 million
dollars with the Federal Aviation Administration's using direct
taxpayer monies for 74% of the project. The new runway came in
on-time and on-budget.
The new runway is 16,000 feet long and 200 feet wide, making it
the largest commercial runway in North America. It is also 4,000
feet longer than any of DEN's other runways. This extra distance
will give fully-loaded jumbo jets additional length to take off in
Denver's altitude during summer months, thereby providing
unrestricted global access for any airline using DEN. The new
runway will also be able to accommodate the new generation of
massive airliners, including the Airbus A-380. 500 ultralights
could land simultaneously, across it, with plenty of room
between wingtips.
The sixth runway is a north/south runway in the northwest part
of the airfield and will enhance DEN's already nationally-renowned
airfield efficiency. In bad weather situations, DEN will still be
able to land three aircraft simultaneously on its existing
north/south runways while using the new runway for departures.
During normal weather conditions, aircraft will be able to
depart using the two north/south runways on the west side of the
airfield and arrive using the two north/south runways on the east
side of the airfield. This makes for short aircraft taxis and
quicker turnarounds. DEN's cost benefit analysis of the runway
estimates the new runway will save the national aviation system
more than $1 billion over the life of the runway.
DEN also has the added luxury of having space for an additional
six runways on its 34,000 acres of land. At full build-out, DEN
would have a total of 12 runways.
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