Airport improvements to be funded almost entirely from grants

HATTIESBURG — Hattiesburg officials say they hope to pick up only 5 percent of the cost on more than $1 million worth of recent improvements at Chain Municipal Airport.

During the past 18 months, city engineer Bert Kuyrkendall says Hattiesburg has received three Federal Aviation Administration grants, which by the end of the 2012 calendar year will have provided about $1.26 million in taxiway and runway lighting and drainage upgrades.

Kuyrkendall tells The Hattiesburg American the first provided 90 percent of engineering/construction costs on a project that upgraded taxiway, runway and navigational lighting and provided other electronic improvements.

Another upgrade was done to a line of Precision Approach Path Indicator lights and two more grants covered drainage updates at the airport.