A new 200-foot air traffic control tower
will grace the Reno Tahoe International
Airport in the near future, helping to
make airline travel more efficient.
It will replace a tower built in 1957.
With its aging equipment and relatively
short stature, the old had become antiquated.
U.S. Sen. Harry Reid and airport
administrators said
the old tower is incapable
of coping with
the ever-changing
airline industry.
"It became apparent
to me that we
needed to change
things," Reid said.
"We need to do
something to modernize
it."
The new tower
will help to create
more airspace on the
airport's two parallel
runways. New technologies will allow air
traffic operators less time to sequence
aircraft on the two runways. As a result,
airlines will have more flexibility to schedule
flights, especially during peak
travel periods, such as
Thanksgiving or Christmas.
Building a new tower
is considered imperative
because of the significant
increase in the
number of passenger
and cargo planes
handled by the airport in the last decade.
Since 1990, passenger traffic has
increased over 80 percent with 4.9 million
passengers and 100 million
pounds of air cargo going through
the airport in 2001. That translates to
13,500 passengers arriving or departing
Reno Tahoe International along with
276,000 pounds of
air cargo on a
daily basis. The
airport conducts an
average of 380 air
traffic operations a
day.
Reid was
instrumental in
putting the idea
into action. He
helped secure
$20.5 million of
the estimated
$24.5 million construction
cost
through federal funding. The remainder
of the cost will soon be appropriated
through the federal budget.
"I want to particularly thank Sen. Reid
for securing $20.5 million so far to make
this project a reality," said John Farahi,
chairman of the Airport Authority of
Washoe County.
Construction of the new 200-foot control
tower is expected to begin in 2004 in
the south portion of the airport's parking
lot. The project is scheduled for completion
in 2006.
FACT SHEET
* The project will soon be under design
* Construction likely to commence as early
as 2004
* Completion likely in 2006
* The proposed tower will be nearly 200
feet in height, and will be one of the
tallest structures in the Truckee Meadows.
* The base building and TRACON will consist
of nearly 14,000 square feet
* The base building and TRACON will
include state-of-the-art communication
and automation systems.
* Total cost for this project is approximately
$24 million
* The project will have an estimated economic
impact of $11.8 million, and local
tax revenues would equate to approximately
$2 million.
Source: Economic Development Authority of Western Nevada
A. Main Reno-Tahoe Airport building and
parking garage.
B. Future RTA air traffic control tower site.
C. Current RTA control tower site.
ATC- Air Traffic Control Tower: The building on an
airport which houses the equipment and personnel
to provide air traffic control service to aircraft operating
on the surface of the airport and in the airspace
within a specified radius of the airport, usually
five miles.
TRACON- Terminal Radar Approach Control: These
work areas are either located within the control
tower complex or in a separate building located on
or near the airport it serves. Using radarscopes,
controllers typically work an area of airspace with
a 50-mile radius and up to 17,000 feet of altitude.
Controllers in TRACONs determine the arriving
sequence that enter into the control towers's designated
airspace.
