Overnight pile driving for the approach light piers (click here for original press release) is complete. Some support piles for another structure will be driven soon as part of the overnight work.

As part of this project the main north-south runway, Runway 1/19, at Reagan National Airport was completely milled and re-surfaced for the first time since 1990. Work continues on the expansion of the runway safety area and the installation of a new approach light system. Overnight runway closures will continue periodically into the Spring of 2012 as noted below. Runway 1/19 will resume full service after it is commissioned by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

As of December 16, 2011 Runway closures have been scaled back to 1:10 a.m. - 6:00 a.m. (which previously were 11:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m.) for the remainder of the project. This will significantly reduce the number of late-night flights using alternate flight patterns to reach the airport.

To track flights to or from the airport, Click here to visit the Aircraft Noise and Flight Tracking webpage.

The Airports Authority will continue working closely with the airlines serving Reagan National during these important projects to ensure smooth operations during the nightly runway closures.

Some major components of the Runway 1/19 improvement project include:

• Replacing the Runway 1/19 centerline lighting system
• Milling and re-surfacing the entire 6,869-foot asphalt runway
• Milling and re-surfacing large portions of a taxiway near Runway 1/19
• Shifting one runway safety area 300 feet to the south
• Replacing the runway approach light pier in the Potomac River
• Replacing the runway approach light system