The U.S. Department of Transportation recently announced the groundbreaking of the new air traffic control tower at Asheville Regional Airport in North Carolina.
The Federal Aviation Administration awarded $15 million from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to help pay for the $44 million project, according to a Jan. 25 U.S. Department of Transportation news release.
"Because of this once-in-a-generation funding, the over 60-year-old air traffic control tower will be replaced to provide safer operations with improved technology as demand continues to grow in the area," FAA Deputy Administrator A. Bradley Mims said in the release.
The funding came from the Airport Terminal Program, one of three aviation programs created by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which provides $5 billion for aviation projects spanning five years, the release reported.
The new air traffic control tower is expected to be 127 feet tall, with a 440-square-foot cab on top to accommodate three air traffic controllers, according to the news release. The building, about 13,300 square feet at its base, will house the Terminal Radar Approach Control and five air traffic controllers.
The tower is expected to be more energy efficient than the present tower, which was built in 1961 and is one of the oldest in FAA's National Airspace System, the release reported.
"When Americans fly, they should be able to expect safe, modern and reliable airports, which are also critical to our local economies," U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said in the news release. "A regional economy can only grow as fast as its infrastructure can support, and this new air traffic control tower will support more business, more opportunities and the potential for continued growth in the region."
Once the new tower is complete, the old will be demolished, according to a separate news release issued by the airport. The board of Greater Asheville Regional Airport has been looking forward to the news tower's construction for quite a while, GARAA Board Chair Brad Galbraith said in the airport's news release.
"Our board has spent years planning for this very day," Galbraith said in the release. "Infrastructure investments are significant, long-lasting, impactful and important – and we want to get it right. I am proud to serve on a board with strategic thinkers who have the airport's growth and impact squarely in view. What is happening here today marks a tangible step toward this airport’s future."
