by April Scheinoha
Reporter
Members of the Minnesota House of Representatives Capital Investment Committee had a lot on their minds Thursday, Sept. 5 after touring the multipurpose hangar at the Thief River Falls Regional Airport.
There, they heard a request for $6.75 million for a new $7.5 million cargo hangar at the airport, and a request for $18 million to completely rebuild the Lake Bronson dam and adjacent county bridge. If approved, those requests would be funded with bonding proceeds.
Cargo hangar
Up until six months ago, six Falcon 20 aircraft were being used at the airport. Four were used on a daily basis by UPS and FedEx. Two were stored in the event spare aircraft were needed. “If one aircraft goes down, packages just get offloaded into another aircraft and get shipped down to Louisville and Memphis, direct to the hubs,” said Airport Manager Joe Hedrick.
FedEx has since transitioned to using CRJ-200 aircraft, which are larger than the Falcon 20. On Monday, Sept. 9, UPS planned to start using CRJ-200 aircraft. FedEx flies into and out of the airport four nights per week. UPS’ schedule is five nights per week.
“The problem with this hangar, which it’s a beautiful facility, is that it can’t fit two CRJs at the same time,” said Hedrick. “There is just not enough safety margin for the wing tip to clear the nose of the first aircraft that comes in here.”
The Thief River Falls Regional Airport Authority has come up with a solution – build a 50,000 square-foot cargo hangar south of its fuel farm. The hangar would have enough space to park three CRJ-200 aircraft. An access route would be located along Pennington County State Aid Highway 17.
“An important facet of this is that the aircraft needs to have enough room on the left side of the aircraft so that they can load and unload inside,” Hedrick said.
The airport receives 20% of all Digi-Key packages and a fair number of other overnight packages, Hedrick said.
Chris Lauer, vice president of order fulfillment at Digi-Key, provided representatives with a visual reference. Holding a package about the size of a school yearbook, Lauer said, “We’re going to ship out of this airport tonight roughly 2,000 packages of this size and larger sizes as well.”
Other items are shipped into and out of the airport. UPS transports packages of emergency medical equipment for Sanford Health as well as items on behalf of Textron. Marvin Windows and Doors, and Central Boiler are among others that use the airport.
The Airport Authority already has ideas of who may use the multipurpose hangar after the proposed cargo hangar is built. It is anticipated that multiple parties would use the multipurpose hangar at that time.
It is expected that Sanford Health would be one of the users. There are instances where Sanford Health needs to utilize a fixed-wing aircraft to transport patients. Many times, a helicopter can’t be used due to the weather conditions. The patient is then loaded onto the plane from the tarmac.
“Think about putting your loved one into a fixed-wing aircraft outside when it’s 40 below 0 or 50 below 0,” said Sanford Thief River Falls Chief Executive Officer Brian Carlson. “On occasion, it’s a transport by a fixed-wing because of the nature of the patient, the condition and the specialist that needs to accompany that individual.”
Hedrick indicated that it is expected Boutique Airlines and the airport’s Fixed Base Operator would also use the hangar. “I can see this hangar being used for a plethora of uses,” he said. “It won’t be a single user.”
A new cargo hangar is one of a few changes that airport passengers may see in the future. The Airport Authority is currently in the process of updating its master plan. Hedrick noted that it is believed that the airport may need a longer runway in the future. If that happens, CSAH 17 may need to be relocated again. Airport growth and Federal Aviation Administration rules led to the relocation of the highway about 35 years ago.
Lake Bronson dam
and adjacent bridge
Representatives also heard a request for $18 million to completely rebuild the Lake Bronson dam and an adjacent county bridge. Designed in the 1930s, the dam is classified as a high-hazard dam. The dam is considered to be a high hazard since it would likely cause a loss of life if it failed or wasn’t operated properly. “It has nothing to do with the actual condition of the dam,” said Jason Boyle, state dam safety engineer with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. A high-hazard dam is typically a high dam that can store a lot of water.
However, the Lake Bronson dam is also in poor condition. “We also do a condition assessment of all of our dams rating from poor to fair to satisfactory,” said Boyle. “Lake Bronson [dam] is in poor condition, so that is actually a function of the design of the dam and how it would stand up to a flood event or just general stability of it.”
In 2008, the DNR repaired the dam gates and hired an engineer to modify the dam and remove some of its vulnerabilities. That project was estimated to cost $9 million, but funding wasn’t available at that time.
Lance Crandall, DNR Parks and Trails district supervisor, operated the dam for five years in his prior position. He noted the biggest challenge is spring runoff. Crandall recalled having to build emergency dikes on each side of the outlet in 2006 to cope with problems.
Serious damage is anticipated if the dam fails after a large rain event with a full lake and large amount of spring runoff. Kittson County Engineer Kelly Bengtson indicated that a report projected that the cities of Lake Bronson and Hallock could sustain damage as well as Highway 75 in Hallock.
“We’ve done everything to try to keep the dam as safe as we can until it gets fixed,” Boyle said.
Funding is also being sought to replace the Kittson County State Aid Highway 28 bridge, which is over the dam. “The bridge is too narrow for two-lane traffic for today’s standards,” said Bengtson. “It’s only 22 feet, so it’s signed for single-lane traffic.”
A total of 145 vehicles per day use the 84-year-old bridge, which is adjacent to Lake Bronson State Park. A pedestrian and bicycle path also crosses the bridge.
“The structure is in very poor condition,” said Bengtson. “It’s the worst rated bridge in the county system in Kittson County. It has a sufficiency rating of 53. A brand-new bridge would be a hundred, so it’s eligible for replacement by State Aid standards because that number is below 80.”