Hammond Northshore Regional Airport in Hammond City, Louisiana, US, is all set to get a new air control tower, with the City Council taking up measures to bring the project to completion.
The City Council has accepted a $1.67m bid from Spartan Construction to construct the air control tower on the west side of the airport near the main terminal.
The council has also decided to borrow up to $350,000 from the city’s sales tax fund for the tower construction.
The construction of the new tower is set to commence by November, and is expected to take between five and six months.
Once operational, the facility will be handled by air traffic controllers from the Louisiana Army National Guard’s air operations centre at the airport.
Mayor Mayson Foster said that the primary objective for the control tower is safety.
“We now have various types of aircraft ranging from blimps, regional jets, smaller private planes, helicopters and other aircraft using the airport,” the mayor told the council.
“Add to that the significant military air traffic now at the airport with the National Guard and the US Customs Service and it is imperative that we have a control tower,” Foster added.
The tower will increase the air traffic once the airport has a controlled airspace environment while significantly impacting the economy.
The nearest control towers to the Northshore Regional Airport are currently located at New Orleans and Baton Rouge.
The control tower project is funded with an $800,000 grant from the Federal Aviation Administration, a $750,000 grant through the state’s Capital Outlay fund and contributions from the city.
Hammond Northshore Regional Airport is a general aviation, reliever airport featuring an airfield of over 900 acres.
