PORT ANGELES — As many as 200 trees could be removed from Lincoln Park and the area around William R. Fairchild International Airport for an obstruction removal project.
Port Deputy Director Dave Hagiwara said the exact number of trees that must be removed has not been finalized yet.
The results of a survey showing how many trees and other possible obstructions must be removed from Lincoln Park and the area around the airport will be presented to the Port’s board of commissioners on Monday.
The meeting begins at 9:30 a.m. at the Port’s headquarters, 338 W. First St.
Airport Manager Jeff Robb will present the survey results and alternatives to the Port’s three commissioners.
Since the obstruction removal will take place in a city park, the survey results also will be presented to the City Council at its Nov. 7 meeting.
The city’s Parks and Recreation Advisory Commission recommended the obstruction removal project at its Sept. 21 meeting.
Under Federal Aviation Administration regulations, obstructions including but not limited to trees must be removed from an area 10,000 feet beyond the end of the airport’s Runway 826 and 5,000 feet beyond the end of the alternate north-south runway.
The approach zones must be clear so planes can circle to make another approach at the runway.
The Port hired URS Corp. of Seattle for the obstruction removal project in 2005.
The project’s first phase was surveying and identifying obstructions, including trees, and the second was project engineering and obstruction removal.
But the standard ground survey methods the company used couldn’t accurately identify all the trees and other obstructions that might need to be removed.
So the consultant surveyed the area again using LIDAR —- Laser Imaging Detection and Ranging.
LIDAR determines the distance to an object by measuring the time between when a pulse of laser light is sent and when it is reflected back by an object.
The technology can collect topographic data for steep slopes and canyons as well as inaccessible areas, such as large mud flats and ocean jetties.
Airport Manager Jeff Robb told the city’s parks board last year that the airport has already given up 1,350 feet of the 6,350-foot runway because of trees in the approach zone that cannot be removed.
