The west runway at Altus AFB re-opened Thursday afternoon with a ribbon-cutting ceremony and the launching of KC-135, C-5 and C-17 aircraft after being closed for one year.

While the runway was being repaired, traffic was reduced 30 percent, so airports such as the Clinton-Sherman Industrial Parkway and Amarillo and Lubbock International Airports were utilized for training purposes.

"Incidentally, although the inside runway was not used in 2003, the control tower recorded 63,365 operations," Col. Mark Solo said. "During that period, we graduated about 3,000 students and flew 25,000 flying hours worth $84 million."

According to Solo, operations on the 50-year-old west runway ceased in Feb. 2003, enabling the reconstruction of shoulders and load-bearing asphalt sections.

"Through the years, our runways have taken a lot of pounding, primarily to train the nation's best, most talented aircrews," Solo said. "In 2002 alone, the control tower recorded 78, 656 takeoffs, landings and low approaches."

In 1955, the runway was extended from 10,800 feet to 13,440 feet and widened from 200 feet to 300 feet to accommodate heavy aircraft such as the B-52.

"We also decided to narrow the runway from 300 feet to 200 feet since our primary aircraft, the C-17, utilizes the narrower runway," Solo said.

During reconstruction, 400,000 tons of surface asphalt were removed and replaced, and a majority of material was reused in various projects. Some of the it will fill several demolition projects, and the city of Altus and Jackson County will use the material in road and street projects.

Replacement materials came from local quarries; however, the new asphalt was formed on base in batch plants that were provided for the project.

Solo noted that the runway reconstruction cost an approximated $20 million, provided by appropriated funds. An additional $2.2 million was used for the hazardous cargo pad taxiway and $1.5 million for the turn-in lanes for C-5 aircraft runway access.

The reconstruction, Solo believes, will allow the base to train more efficiently and effectively.

"We fly 35 to 40 minutes to get to other training bases, whereas now we don't have to go that distance," Solo said. "We can do the vast majority of our training here."

The east runway, Solo added, is now in need of repairs even though it has been in service for less than 10 years; reconstruction, however, will not begin for at least five years.