Busiest Kennedy runway back in business after rehab

It took 190,000 cubic yards of concrete, 250,000 tons of asphalt and 1,000 workers going around the clock for four months.

There was a snowstorm to contend with, and nearly two weeks straight of rain in March.

Kennedy Airport's bay runway, the Queens airport's longest and busiest, officially reopened after four months of repaving work Tuesday with a ceremony.

Held in an open-air hangar with the new runway's concrete gleaming bright in the background, the reopening featured agency chiefs who proudly emphasized the $376-million project was done on schedule and on budget.

"The public is so cynical about public agencies being able to deliver," said Chris Ward, executive director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which operates Kennedy Airport. "All the team proved that the Port Authority can deliver on time."

Runway 13R-31L closed March 1 for rebuilding. Jack Frost, chief executive of Tutor Perini, the company that handled construction, said removing six inches of asphalt and replacing it with 18 inches of concrete was "a tough project."

"When we shut down on March 1, we had just had snow," Frost said Tuesday. "It was the second week of March before we could do any paving. Then it rained for 13 or 14 days. At that point, everyone was getting really nervous."

The runway unofficially opened with its first flight at 11:39 a.m. Monday when a Florida-based JetBlue crew made the first departure.

Carmine Gallo, the Federal Aviation Administration's regional administrator, said the runway closure had "minimal impact" on flight operations at Kennedy.

Between March 1 and June 21, total delayed operations at Kennedy were down 6 percent compared to the same time frame in 2009, Gallo said.

After the ceremony an FAA spokesman said the agency couldn't provide numbers detailing the flight delay reductions.

Airlines that use Kennedy, such as American and Delta, reduced their flight schedules because of the runway reconstruction, according to the FAA.

During the first week of March, delays were up 6 percent compared to the same period in 2009, according to FAA statistics.