Chicago Rockford International Airport (RFD) has started work on a 120,000 sq ft building expansion at its cargo area and a new $3.5m cargo aircraft parking ramp.
The ramp expansion project is expected to be completed by October 2018. The new cargo building is projected to be completed by July 2019.
“We are excited to celebrate the start of these important projects to support our continued growth in cargo,” said Mike Dunn, executive director at RFD.
“Our significant growth in cargo activity at RFD over the last two years has fueled the need for this ongoing and continued airport cargo facility expansion and we expect to continue to see a need for these types of projects.”
The airport handled around 635,000 tonnes of cargo in 2017, a 50% percent increase over the year before.
The airport continues to receive federal funding to support expansions and expects to see this continue as RFD has more than 1,000 acres of land to support additional projects.
Earlier this month, the US Department of Transportation announced $677m in infrastructure grants for 214 airports, one of which is for the RFD facility expansion project.
The ramp expansion is in addition to the federally funded $5.5m ramp expansion completed in late 2017. The total cargo apron will allow support for eight aircraft.
For both projects, the airport is partnering with local construction companies. Nearly 500 jobs will be created due to this growth.
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