In the boroughs of Forty Fort and Wyoming, Pennsylvania, Luzerne County began construction in May on a roughly $12.4 million modernization of the Wilkes-Barre Wyoming Valley Airport. Set along the Susquehanna River in the heart of the Wyoming Valley in Northeastern Pennsylvania, the county-owned field is seeing its first significant capital investment in decades. The county has owned the airport since the 1940s, and the current program is designed to carry it well into the future.
The scope is substantial for the general aviation field. Plans call for two pre-engineered buildings housing 24 aircraft hangars, along with the taxiways and access lanes pilots need to reach them, addressing a standing waiting list of pilots and companies looking to base aircraft at the airport. The work also includes a new above-ground Jet A fuel system and dispensing area, a dedicated helicopter fueling pad, and the removal of old underground tanks. Crews will lay roughly 14,000 square yards of new pavement, build new taxiways, and upgrade stormwater management, while a new automated weather observing system reports wind, visibility, temperature, and altimeter data to pilots and feeds the national weather network. Delta Airport Consultants is handling engineering and planning, and the longtime fixed base operator, Valley Aviation, is supporting the new fueling facilities.
Much of the funding, about $8.3 million, comes from county-directed American Rescue Plan Act recovery dollars, which require the federally funded work to be completed by the end of the year. That timeline gives the project real urgency, and county leaders have framed it as a turning point. At the May groundbreaking, County Manager Romilda Crocamo described it as a commitment to a community that had grown accustomed to deferring maintenance, and Council Chairman Jimmy Sabatino called it a preview of broader investment to come. The airport carries an operational load beyond recreational and commercial flying, anchoring a pilot training program that helps address a national pilot shortage and serving as a regular fueling stop for medevac helicopters and state police aircraft that depend on quick turnarounds.
A program on this schedule depends on the contractor delivering it, and the county turned to Leeward Construction. A family-owned and operated builder based in Honesdale, Pennsylvania, Leeward is a fixture in the heavy and highway market across Northeastern Pennsylvania and parts of New York and New Jersey, and it self-performs at a level few regional competitors can match. Together with its companion company, E.R. Linde Construction Corporation, the firm owns and operates rock quarries and an asphalt plant and fields its own crews for blasting, excavation, paving, concrete, utility installation, and trucking. On a federally funded job with a hard year-end deadline, that ability to supply its own materials and mobilize quickly is a real advantage. Leading the work are Aaron Pickarski, head of estimating and project management, project manager Jesse O'Connell, and site superintendent Gerald Margraf.
Leeward's aviation record made it a natural fit. At the same airport, the firm served as the prime contractor for the Runway 7/25 Rehabilitation, a $1.3 million rebuild that included full-depth reclamation of 30,000 square yards of asphalt, GPS-controlled grading, and 6,800 tons of FAA-specified asphalt placed with GPS-guided paving to meet strict tolerances. In nearby Avoca, Leeward delivered the roughly $9 million Taxiway B Extension at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport, moving more than 965,000 cubic yards of rock excavation and controlled fill and installing 4,500 linear feet of 60-inch underground storage, all while the international airport stayed in operation. Its broader portfolio extends to I-84 reconstruction in Pike County, the SR 447 bridge over Goose Pond Run, the Lower Woods Pond Dam rehabilitation, and emergency flood repairs across Susquehanna and Wyoming counties.
The earthwork at Wyoming Valley created a specific and recurring challenge. Leeward's scope called for hauling 35,000 cubic yards of earthen materials across two active taxiways using 45-ton articulated trucks, and every pass risked dropping rock, dirt, and dust onto pavement carrying live aircraft traffic. That was both a safety concern and a constant cleanup burden on a schedule with no room to spare. A traditional aggregate rock entrance offered no real solution because loose stone migrates and breaks down under repeated heavy loads, and on an airfield, it introduces exactly the kind of foreign object debris crews work to eliminate. The crossings needed a system that captured material before it reached the pavement and produced no debris.
To manage it, Leeward installed FODS Trackout Control Mats on both sides of the taxiways where the articulated trucks crossed. The modular mats are engineered with rows of raised pyramids that flex vehicle tires and dislodge mud, dirt, and debris as trucks roll across them, capturing sediment before it reaches the pavement. Because the system is rockless by design, it adds no loose aggregate to the airfield and removes a common source of secondary trackout. The mats install quickly, withstand heavy articulated-truck traffic, and can be relocated and reused as the work advances, a meaningful advantage on a multi-part project running against a fixed completion date. FODS and Jobsite Products, Inc. provided pre-install design assistance and on-site technical support throughout assembly.
Gerald Margraf, Leeward's site superintendent on the project, described the results in his own words: "We are pleased with the FODS product from start to finish. FODS and Jobsite Products, Inc. provided competitive pricing, timely deliveries, and a quality product. With pre-install design assistance and on-site tech support, the matting system was assembled efficiently and has operated flawlessly. Our project involves hauling 35,000 CY of Earthen materials across two active Taxiways with 45-ton articulated trucks. FODS mats are in place on either side of the Taxiways to prevent rock, dirt, and dust from landing on the pavement. Minimal, if any, trackout has been seen on the Taxiways. Great job, FODS!"
By eliminating rock entrances and helping prevent debris from reaching active taxiways, FODS allowed Leeward Construction to maintain safe crossings throughout the project while keeping crews focused on production rather than cleanup. On a federally funded project with a fixed completion deadline and active aircraft operations, minimizing trackout helped support both efficiency and airfield safety.
As the Wilkes-Barre Wyoming Valley Airport project nears its year-end completion, FODS remains a key factor in keeping the work clean, compliant, and on schedule. The new hangars, modern fueling, and automated weather reporting are positioned to serve pilots and the Wyoming Valley for decades, delivered by a contractor whose self-performed capacity and aviation experience matched the demands of a tight, federally funded schedule on an active airfield.
