Florence Airport – AWOS Reconstruction
Florence, OR
Project
Century West has been serving the Florence Municipal Airport since the 1980s. The Airport had previously installed an Automated Weather Observing System (AWOS) 3 in 2001. The AWOS-3 equipment had reached the end of its useful life, and replacement parts were becoming increasingly difficult to procure. Century West worked with the Airport and FAA to program an AWOS replacement project in 2021, which included an upgrade to an AWOS-3P/T system, which included precipitation type and thunderstorm/lighting reports not previously available on the AWOS-3 system.
Century West completed the project design in Spring 2021, and bids were opened in early June to allow ample time to review submittals and order the AWOS equipment; due to COVID and supply chain bottlenecks, procurement times exceeded 12 to 16 weeks. Understanding that there could be a significant time between ordering the AWOS equipment and actual installation, the Century West team carefully designed the new AWOS to be outside the existing AWOS footprint to allow it to remain operational while waiting for the new equipment. Construction of the new AWOS tower and equipment footings was completed in September 2021, and the new equipment and tower were installed in December 2021. This allowed the existing AWOS to remain in operation while awaiting the procurement of the new AWOS equipment. The demolition of the existing and installation of the new AWOS equipment took less than one week. The new AWOS-3P/T was installed and commissioned by the FAA in December 2021.
Century West completed the project design in Spring 2021, and bids were opened in early June to allow ample time to review submittals and order the AWOS equipment; due to COVID and supply chain bottlenecks, procurement times exceeded 12 to 16 weeks. Understanding that there could be a significant time between ordering the AWOS equipment and actual installation, the Century West team carefully designed the new AWOS to be outside the existing AWOS footprint to allow it to remain operational while waiting for the new equipment. Construction of the new AWOS tower and equipment footings was completed in September 2021, and the new equipment and tower were installed in December 2021. This allowed the existing AWOS to remain in operation while awaiting the procurement of the new AWOS equipment. The demolition of the existing and installation of the new AWOS equipment took less than one week. The new AWOS-3P/T was installed and commissioned by the FAA in December 2021.
