Runway refurbishment at Noertrange
Follow the runway refurbishment from ground preparation and grass sowing through the time needed for the new turf to establish. All dated progress reports and photos are collected here.
Latest update:
Grass sown and electric fence installed
The final levelling and soil tilling of the runway have been completed, and the grass seed has now been sown.
Ponts et Chaussées has installed an electric fence around the refurbished area to keep wildlife away from the newly sown ground.
The grass now needs time to grow and develop strong roots. We therefore expect the 2027 skydiving season to start a little later than usual. We’re looking forward to getting back in the air.
Photos
Levelling continues, with sowing planned before winter
The next step for the runway is sowing: the grass seed is due to go into the ground before winter. The work on the airfield at the moment is preparing the ground for it.
Heavy machinery is on site straightening and levelling the runway further, so that the surface the grass will grow on is as even as it can be made.
The ground was watered last week and compaction advanced with it, but the soil is still not moist enough. It needs to take up more water before the runway will compact as it should.
An electric fence against wild boar will be put in place as well. Boar root up open ground as they feed, and a fresh sowing would not survive that, so keeping them out is part of giving the new grass the best conditions to establish.
Photos
Ploughing and compaction under way, slowed by dry soil
In the swampy section in the forest, the contractor broke up the ground to a depth of 40 centimetres, loosening the soil in preparation for the next steps. On Monday the whole field was ploughed, and work continued through the rest of the week on compacting the whole runway.
Compaction has not advanced as expected. The soil is extremely dry, and that is what is holding the work back.
Next week the ground will be watered, with the help of the Commune of Wiltz, so that the runway can be compacted properly. For once in skydiving, we would be glad to see rain.
The asphalt way crossing the runway will stay in place. The grass area around it will be flattened, to reduce the risk of a bump forming there.
Photos
Ground work starts: first 200 metres of the runway opened up
A tractor-towed machine was at work on 14 September, drawing parallel grooves along roughly 200 metres of the runway, on the section that runs between the trees. The turf has been lifted and the soil beneath opened up, leaving a ribbed pattern across the full width of the surface.
This is groundwork rather than the resurfacing itself: loosening the compacted surface is the first step before the ground can be levelled and rebuilt.
The airfield stays closed and the fenced area remains off limits to everyone except the contractor’s personnel. We will post the next update as the works move on.
Photos
Work area fenced off as the runway is handed to the contractor
The boundary of the construction site has been marked out and fenced. A line of posts now runs the length of the work area, separating the site from the rest of the airfield and making the limits unmistakable from every direction.
For the entire duration of the works, access to the runway is strictly forbidden. Only the contractor’s personnel may enter the fenced area. This applies equally to club members, visitors and vehicles, at any time of day, including evenings and weekends when no work is under way.
In preparation, the club cleared the runway of all cones and markers, so that the site could be handed over ready for work to begin.
Photos
