Rocky Airport to go Under

[The Tn Man]

Report that Rocky Airport to cease Ops early next week due 9.5m flood level in the Fitzroy ,1991 saw a 9.2m flood level shut the airport for approx 3 weeks

[Peter Fanelli]

What a bunch of pansies, it should remain open as a floatplane base.

[Desert Duck]

Could be as early as Sat.

[Wally Mk2]

ATIS quoting dry rwy, can't be that bad:ok:. Looked like a few puddles about the edges of the rwy today but other than that dry black stuff still avail:ok:.
Someone asked the guy in the twr is the joint gunna close?.............not to his knowledge was the response.



Wmk2

[Desert Duck]

A lot of water on the way

[Jabawocky]

Pretty good chance it will Wally. Lots of H2O headed there in the next few days and its already flooded.

[Wally Mk2]

Lovely day there 2day 'jaba', don't know what all the excitement is about although the gal in the twr was under the pump today with 3 planes in the area all at once:E

Hey Jaba did I hear a 'jabodoo' run out of steam today somewhere & make a forced ldg?


Wmk2

[Timocracy]

Water is half way up the fence and pretty close to the rwy this afternoon.

[eternity]

Maybe with Rocky closing for a bit twr will get a few days off.

Then maybe we can pop the gal in the jump so she can see why its never fun to change approaches on us at 5DME :sad::sad:

[Going Nowhere]

Everytime you hear that voice you think to yourself, "how's she gonna **** this up?" and then it happens... :ugh:

[harrowing]

the cuff links - run sally run video (http://www.yamelo.com/the-cuff-links/run-sally-run_34269.html)

[Jack Ranga]

Then maybe we can pop the gal in the jump so she can see why its never fun to change approaches on us at 5DME http://images.ibsrv.net/ibsrv/res/src:www.pprune.org/get/images/smilies/puppy_dog_eyes.gif


'TWR, ABC, negative, unable'


Everytime you hear that voice you think to yourself, "how's she gonna **** this up?" and then it happens... :ugh:


Ring the Tower, make her aware of what impact she's having on your operation, no joy, ask for her supervisor, no joy, ask for the Tower's responsible ALM. :ok:

[Wally Mk2]

God you guys crack me up !!!:D:E Poor gal she might be the driest person in Rocky over the next few days up there in her lofty perch:-)

ATIS quoted expect DGA`Arr fair enuff cloud wasn't an issue in the circuit so all good then at the last minute it's a VOR`App for rwy 15 held nice & high over the top......training wheels perhaps? Who'd wanna be an ATC'er, hard to plz us buggers:ok:

I must say though that back-tracking for rwy 15 @ RK late yesterday it looked interesting to be heading straight for what appeared to be an inland sea !:-)

If one had an engine failure in a SE retract plane it would be hard to know whether to leave the gear up for Ldg or put it down there's that much water around the place!:E

Wmk2

[megle2]

lets hope the water washes the airport management negative attitudes away and some user friendly ones brought in.
Has to be one of the worst airports in east Aus.

[The Tn Man]

"Someone asked the guy in the twr is the joint gunna close?.............not to his knowledge was the response."!!


Well he or she (ATC) is going to get a nice surprise ,I was there in 1991 the water came over so quick within 15mins it had covered 1/3 of 33 ,we nearly had a 73 stranded ,unloaded all pax,baggage and cargo and just got off on restriction.

[Bluebottle]

C432/10
Ad Not Avbl
Due Flooding Emergency Acft Excepted With Prior Notice.
Rwy Lgt Not Avbl
From 01 010430 To 01 180700 Est

[Stationair8]

Has the flood water got a current ASIC card?

[The Tn Man]

I think the snakes would take priority over Flood waters.

I chap that I know went to secure his Dozer on the banks of the Fitzroy,chartered a Helo to drop him in so he could tape up intake etc ,lifted the canopy and he couldnt believe the amount snakes that had taken refuge,after that little episode he didnt bother!!

[Capt Fathom]

we nearly had a 73 stranded ,unloaded all pax,baggage and cargo and just got off on restriction

I'd be interested in hearing more information regarding.... just got off on restriction. What exactly does that mean?

[multime]

Stationair8, the waters fine its those snakes who need security clearance.

Osama bin brown
Osama bin black belly
Osama bin Taipan
Osama bin duguit.

Lets see the pen pushers deal with that one.?

And if these floods continue.

Osama bin barramundi.
Osama bin redclaw.
And of course.
Osama bin Crocodylis.
:E
Happy NY
M

[The Tn Man]

Capt Fathom..thats ironic
.
"On restriction" restricted runway length.... it was very close to not getting off the ground. Maybe the Skipper pulled a few tricks out of the bag to get the beast into the air!!

[Ex FSO GRIFFO]

Just wondering....

Have all the 'lighties' been flown out to safer ground, or are the hangar floors above the water line expected..??

Or maybe that should read 'unexpected'..?

Cheers:ok:

[The Tn Man]

How do I insert an Image ?I have some photos of the 1991 flood

[Jabawocky]

Have a look here......

http://www.pprune.org/dg-p-general-aviation-questions/358738-image-posting-pprune.html

If that does not help check your PM's :ok:

[morno]

Griffo I was in there yesterday and there were still a few lighties parked up.

All the hangars will end up with water through them if the peak get's as high as predicted.

morno

[Tiger01]

All RPT services have now been suspended. Last RPT service was Virgin at 1:45pm today

[amberale]

Hey Tnman.
I was also there in 91.
I remember......
Getting driven in very slowly by Unimogs so the waves wouldn't lap into the equipment room full of electronics at the base of the tower.
Watching a guy in a R22 shifting cattle out of the paddock on the western side of the airport by slapping them with the skids.
Keeping the runway open at reduced length for George with the pathology tests from GLA.
RS convincing the council engineer after the water had dropped that he should not take a grader to the "bumps" that had come up in the runway and that runway hotmix wasn't roadbase.

Ah memories.

AA

[Sunstar320]

91' floods for those who remember

http://www.bom.gov.au/qld/rockhampton/images/RK11.jpg

[The Tn Man]

This is how Rok operated during the Floods for 3 weeks

Ferry pax to Rosslyn Bay on Coach then to GKL on launch then DTO ferry to Glt to hook up with Sunstate 360`s,I dont think there are many twotters around now ,Calling Bevan are you still there??

[Ex FSO GRIFFO]

Many Thanks for that Morno,

'Tis disheartening to see good aircraft being left to such a risk. But I guess as long as the levels do not rise much above the wheels, then they will be OK.....

Cheers:ok:

[Ex FSO GRIFFO]

Hey 'PD',

Your pic looks more up to date than the one on the CH7 news in PH tonight.....

Congrats and well done...:ok::ok:

[Capt Claret]

I'd be interested in the logistics of reopening a runway that has been flooded like that. I doubt it's as simple as waiting for the water to recede.

Does any one have any insight?

[Super Cecil]

They say the runway has been shut but they are trying desperately to keep the tower open so they can still fly helicopters. How does that work? How do choppers operate on the likes of fires where you have mebe up to 20 Aircraft all working from the same strip without a tower? A loaded 206 would still operate off the runway that is left in the photo or even the taxiway.

[Dick N. Cider]

Is there a corresponding SWS NOTAM? :}

[Dick N. Cider]

There's a requirement for a Class D service and the airspace is not just the runway. While they can provide it from the tower I guess they will. Whether they can continue to get there and equipment remains functional will be dependent upon how much water ultimately.

There were plenty of "wet feet" piccies from the '91 flood. I remember seeing them in pre-electronic format.

DNC

[Ultralights]

http://pamuva1.smugmug.com/Other/webcrap-images/Screen-shot-2011-01-03-at/1144846496_wD6d2-XL.png
Near Emerald yesterday

[Super Cecil]

There's a requirement for a Class D service and the airspace is not just the runway. While they can provide it from the tower I guess they will. Whether they can continue to get there and equipment remains functional will be dependent upon how much water ultimately.



So why not just make it a CTAF? If it's too hard as controlled airspace then let the boys sort themselves out, they do it everywhere else.

[ForkTailedDrKiller]

Looking at PD's pic, why close the aerodrome?

Still looks way betterer than places that many of us operate into all the time.

Dr :8

[Worrals in the wilds]

I'd be interested in the logistics of reopening a runway that has been flooded like that. I doubt it's as simple as waiting for the water to recede.
At the very least you'd want to do an engineer's inspection. There could easily be serious surface cracking, potholes and maybe subsidence under the surface that wouldn't be picked up in a standard RWY inspection. There aren't all that many civil engineers with airport expertise in Australia, I'd imagine that Rocky's commissioned one of them to have a squizz once the water recedes. An airport has responsibility for the serviceability of its runways (and closing them if they're unserviceable), so it will be up to them rather than Airservices to decide when it's safe to use.

Hopefully there's nothing much wrong with it and they'll be back up and running ASAP.

[Dick N. Cider]

Declare it a CTAF and anyone can enter. Class D and you need a clearance. Traffic is currently restricted to flood relief and emergency as far as I know.

[GyroOz]

You would want to be very careful as to what has happened underneath the hotmix runway, Cracking when it starts to dry out will tell you that the sub base is/was well and truely wet, worse yet if the runway starts to sink. I would think even when its starting to recede from the runway it would be sometime before you see heavies into there again.

[The Tn Man]

I was told that back in the good old days an Ansett Electra broke through the Taxiway or Runway at Rok with main gear after a flood or heavy rain..Someone else may have better memories of this.

Also I noticed on flood photos a big dip on 33 ,no wonder there has been a lot of dicky landings!! maybe they can fix on next overlay!!

[rioncentu]

Why close it?

Because the @@@@ Nazis that run it have no idea

They initially said they would leave it open as long as they can.

But no they just plain closed it.

As someone above said there was plenty of use left in it at that length.

[multime]

Ultralights great pic. Thats Aeroprofessional spray base and the cherokee six PRE, i used to buffel seed out of many moons ago. Don,t think she,ll be flying anytime soon.

[Dick N. Cider]

rioncentu,

Agree that there's plenty of length remaining. Where are you going to put the aircraft? There's a whole lot more water to come over the next few days.

[rioncentu]

Dick

All aircraft gone from ybrk. Most to Gladstone. Big effort and thanks to all those to helped out.

Mine was moved without me being in town.

Well done folks:D

[Ex FSO GRIFFO]

Well Mr "R",

Sounds like somebody is thinking - and it would seem that you may owe them a beer or three..??

Well done indeed.:ok:

[Dick N. Cider]

I know this forum has been a bit of a b!tchfest over the years but you might consider that the young lady in Rocky Tower stands out amongst the male voices. It's often when you're pissed off that you note the same voice. Her's is distinctive in this context.

If you have a genuine complaint how about ringing the tower and talking to her. None of us knows everything (including those in the cockpit) and my experience of her is that she's very reasonable and keen on doing the best job by you guys.

Build her up if she needs that. Don't just try and cut her down.

DNC

[Ex FSO GRIFFO]

How goes it today guys & gals..??

Water thru the hangars?
Very deep in the hangar?

Thinking of yas all....

Cheers:ok:

[orangepeel]

Pictures anyone of the airport?

[Jack Ranga]

Go to yahoo's home page, pretty much under now.

[Tiger01]

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash1/hs734.ash1/162824_186693758023989_100000500971883_642769_5214569_n.jpg

[go_soaring]

Australian flooding - The Big Picture - Boston.com (http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2011/01/australian_flooding.html)

Some great shots of the flooding in QLD...


go_soaring! instead (but only in states other than NSW and QLD atm!)

[Horatio Leafblower]

http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/imagerecords/48000/48429/rockhampton_ast_2011005.jpg

(Link from the ABC News site)

[Tiger01]

Once the water has drained away (should be by sometime late next week) Any guesses as to how long it takes to get the runways serviceable again?

[tasdevil.f27]

Have heard that the surface wasn't in real good shape and problems were identified during its last technical inspection. May not see any of the heavies in there for a while.

[Tiger01]

Looks like there could possibly be no RPT till the end of January. This means the airport will have nearly been closed for a month
Flood Information Update

UPDATED Saturday 8 January 2011 at 3:24pm:

The Fitzroy River reached its peak flood level of 9.2m on Wednesday 5 January at the Rockhampton City Gauge. The flood level is stationary at approximately 9.1m. Advice received from the Bureau of Meteorology is that the Fitzroy River will remain around 8.5m until late next week.

As a result of this advice, the following general recovery information for Rockhampton Airport has been provided:


Friday 14 Jan 11
Floodwaters are expected to reduce to 8.5m by this date. Access to runways and other critical operational areas may become available for visual inspection. The inspections are anticipated to take approximately 2 working days.

After the visual appraisal a more detailed assessment of the major infrastructure elements will be conducted. These assessments should take around 3 days, depending upon access and infrastructure condition.

Wednesday 19 Jan 11
Assuming that all critical infrastructure has not sustained major damage, remedial works can commence.

Monday 24 Jan 11
By this date it may be possible to reinstate some aircraft operations during daylight hours only.

Airport facilities necessary for Regular Public Transport services (e.g. QantasLink, Virgin Blue and Tiger Airways) may be possible but more information will required before this can be accurately determined.

Friday 28 January 11
Unless the airport has sustained significant damage to key infrastructure, it is probable that that normal RPT services could be reinstated.


Airport Management will endeavour to expedite the return to service of all RPT services but at this stage the condition of the facilities is unknown. More information will be posted on this web site when it becomes available

[Stationair8]

What has happened to my little drinking mates at the aero club?

Is the Islander working hard?

Where have the RFDS aircraft been relocated too?

[morno]

Where have the RFDS aircraft been relocated too?

Looks like they've been parked down and working out of Brisbane since about New Years Eve.

morno

[Dick N. Cider]

I know of a Rocky resident who has booked YBRK - YMML and return with Tiger. Contacted airline to change bookings ex YBMK and was told by call centre that Rocky was open! Given that he's police and involved in FFR he had some direct experience but couldn't convince them. "Consultant" refused to allow change.

Latest advice was about 3 weeks minimum for runway.

[Tiger01]

What has happened to my little drinking mates at the aero club?

The club house has remained dry & starting tomorrow they are operating charters from Cawarral & Emu Park to Gladstone.

[Capn Bloggs]

From my local paper today:

http://i521.photobucket.com/albums/w334/capnbloggs/rocky15.jpg

[Chu Mai Huang]

All the talk of reopening as soon as the water clear enough...:rolleyes:
Probably a lot of the airport staff of all services and professions have moved away. There will likely be not enough staff until Rockhampton itself dries out and people get their homes sorted out to a liveable degree.:eek:
I would suggest most affected ROK residents who are airport workers will be at home as soon as able, cleaning up to enable their families to return. WORK??? FORGET IT.

[The Tn Man]

Qlink DH8`s to start daylight Ops on the 24th Jan if all goes well with remedial work on 15/33

[Tiger01]

Qlink DH8`s to start daylight Ops on the 24th Jan if all goes well with remedial work on 15/33


How long until virgin can get their E-Jets back in ?

[The Tn Man]

Could be the same time,depending on available runway length & condition for Jet Ops

Check Rockhampton Regional Council web site for updates

[running_guns]

Oh Deary Me!
had to sign up when i heard about this one!
class D procedural requirements take a bit of understanding. If you bother to ask around perhaps even ring the tower, (MK,RK,SU etc) you will get an idea of why things happen the way they do. They have some of the most restrictive standards to work with. So when your chieftain takes 8 miles to reach 1500ft and other inbound traffic are trying to let down, things get tricky son.I guess its easy to slate the hell out of someone on these threads as you and others have done without worrying about the consequences. Those few days leading up to the floods were the busiest on recent record. Many of the GA specials all departing to the same place at the same time at the same level.....throw some rotary traffic who cant work out their East from the West and all of a sudden the sole controller ,(yes they often work alone in Class D twrs) will be very busy.
Sometimes things dont go to plan...suck it up thats life. There are many other controllers in that tower, dont go and pick an easy target. You didnt mention the one with the gruff voice did you...or the softly spoken gentleman.
Wally,...you have been around the traps long enough to be more mature about this..grow up!!
Before the panel of experts tries to nut this one out: I dont work for ASA. I fly for one of the biggest carriers in the country. I get stuffed around all the time as well. But I'm not immune to stuffing up myself, Have your estimates ever been a tad wrong?? believe me...a minute or so makes quite a difference. If you have ever flown in europe and cross position x at the wrong time...all hell breaks loose and you'll know about it. so really it aint to bad here.
Lose the attitude.....ring up next time if you want to know why you held longer, or decended later....there is always a very good reason.
Peace,
RG

[Tiger01]

The word is from the 24th they do expect to be able open the main rwy - 15/33 however at a reduced length of approx 1800m. Remaining runway should be available by the 28th. Obviously this will get the QLink Dash 8's in no problem but how would virgins E-190 go with this?

[F111]

190 cleared to operate into PMQ and it's runway is less than 1800m, Maroochy is around that and 737s, A320s and the 190 operate out of there so ROK shouldn't be a problem.

[onetrack]

Capt Claret and Worrals - There won't be subsidence in the runway sub-base... the preparatory work and the substantial compaction levels when the runway was put down, would ensure that no subsidence would have taken place.
Remember, a runway has to take serious impact at speed when a heavy touches down a little too heavily... so runway compaction is at substantial compaction levels, to serious depths (around 600-900mm).

After a flood event like this, the serious problem, is separation of the bond between the runway base material, and the seal. You've seen it on the damaged roads on the news shots.
The bitumen lifts away from the road-base in a sheet, or in big bubbles.
This means the damaged sections have to be cut out... the base re-worked with new road-base material, the base re-compacted, and new seal (bitumen or hot-mix) laid down.

A close visual inspection generally reveals damage. Unfortunately, hot-mix or bitumen will only resist rainwater to a modest depth, and water that drains off... that doesn't hang around.
When a sealed surface is immersed in a depth of water that just lays there, and doesn't drain, the water finds its way into the area under the seal (mostly via small cracks) and commences to separate the bond between the seal and the base.
A deep layer of hot mix (50mm) is more impervious to water ingress, than a few coats of bitumen seal.

This breakdown of the seal bond only becomes evident after the surface is trafficked (if not picked up by visual inspection), and the bitumen or hot mix proceeds to break up, under the impact of rolling wheels.

[13/31]

The last time (1991) if I recall, they spiked the bubbles in the asphalt with a crowbar, and then rolled the hell out of it with heavy multi-tyred rollers. Seemed to work ok.

[tasdevil.f27]

From their website:

General recovery information for Rockhampton Airport is as follows:


FRIDAY 14 JANUARY 2011
The main runway (RWY 15/33) is now clear of water and visual inspections are continuing. Water from the secondary runway (RWY 04/22) is almost gone and cleaning works have also commended. Gas pockets have been located in various locations on the main runway and have been drilled to release the pressure under the asphalt. So far this work has been successful.

Power to the General Aviation Area was restored today.

Further information will be available following the detailed inspections conducted over the weekend.


THURSDAY 13 JANUARY 11
There is now water on approx 10% of the main runway. Some gas 'bubbles' have formed under the asphalt and we are using a small diameter drill to remove the pressure in the affected areas. When the runway is completely dry, a full assessment of the runway pavements will be conducted. This will commence on the weekend.


Much of the secondary runway is still underwater. Sweeping and cleaning of the runways, taxiways and apron areas is continuing and will take several days to complete.


WEDNESDAY 12 JANUARY 11
The water is receding faster than anticipated and a much larger section of the main runway (RWY 15/33) is now exposed.


Taxiway Juliet is still partially underwater and the secondary runway is still submerged. Cleanup of the main runway is being carried out by the Rural Fire Brigade support trucks and several mobile rotary brooms. Power has been restored to the terminal and services are now being reinstated.


TUESDAY 11 JAN 11
The water level on the main runway (RWY 15/33) has reduced by a small amount. Sweeping and visual inspection of the dry section of this runway has now commenced. Several issues have been identified with the available runway and have been marked for engineering assessment.

With the exception of the intersection of the two runways, the secondary runway (RWY 04/22) is still completely underwater.

[airsupport]

They now say it will be open Monday morning.

http://i1095.photobucket.com/albums/i474/airsupport/811711-rockhampton-floods.jpg

[frothy]

Is that full ops or daylight only?
As an aside comment, with Rocky closed you can imagine the slight increase in traffic at Gladstone. From what I saw and from what I've heard things went pretty well operating as a CTAF with co operation and respect from all Operators. These included increased RPT, sqillions of flingwings,Policewing Caravans and Citation who were pretty regular,Charters, transiting a/c refuels,RFDS and not forgetting the obligatory Pollies.
Everyone followed the communication criteria and privates held out for priority traffic, common courtesy and basic airmanship with a helpful team of Groundstaff.
I only one came across a couple. One being a 182 calling and doing a 10 mile final with active circuit traffic and an engine runup around close parked A/c and directly at a Hanger, but hea every village has one.
If that's all that happened we're doing pretty well as a CTAF
I'd like to thank all those involved in the Flood Operation as their help is appreciated by so many.:ok:
Frothy

[airsupport]

I was just going by this news item......................

--------------------------------------------

THREE weeks after floodwaters drowned its runway, Rockhampton's airport will reopen.

The last major flight took off on New Year's Day just days before the Fitzroy River was due to peak.

Day time flights will resume at Rockhampton on Monday 8am (AEST) and night flights on Wednesday.

Rockhampton Airport says on its website that all major runway repairs and critical perimeter fencing work have now been completed.

Linemarking of the runways and taxiways will be complete on Sunday, it said.

"Due to extensive flood damage, the secondary runway will remain closed for an extended period," the airport said.

QantasLink spokesman Narendra Kumar said the airline would resume services linking Rockhampton to Brisbane, Cairns, Gladstone, Mackay and Townsville.

"Flights will initially be limited to daytime hours due to runway limitations," he said in a statement.

"This will mean a reduced schedule over two days. However we will operate our larger and faster 74-seat Q400 aircraft on all sectors to provide as many seats as possible."

-------------------------------------------------------------

[frothy]

Thanks Airsupport
Hope things go well with the Runway. A good thing the Gladstone Council spent the $65m extending and rebuilding the runway here. The old one would not have survived that rain and the whole Region would have been without an Airport
This is the Runway both the State and Federal Govts refused to contribute to but were OK to use it for their photo shoots so much for Infrastructure investment:yuk:

Frothy

[Jabawocky]

send them a big bill............

Landing fees: State and fed Govt $50,000 per movement. :}

[morno]

The Gladstone refuellers have been doing a stirling job during the last 3 weeks as well, considering the amount of extra traffic that have required fuel, even coming out in the middle of the night for us on a number of occasions, :ok::ok:.

morno