Refurbishment news.

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.

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.

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.