The fenced-off work area running alongside the runway at Noertrange airfield

Runway refurbishment

Refurbishment news.

Updates on the works at the airfield, and what they mean for jumping.

We post every update about the runway works here, newest first. Check back for progress, photos and, as soon as we have them, confirmed reopening dates.

Levelling continues, with sowing planned before winter

Machines parked along the treeline beside the runway at dusk, with the village and its church spire on the horizon
The bare runway at sunset, seen along a painted centreline marker, with machines at the far end between the treesA heavy truck with a loaded container parked on the grass beside the runway, the setting sun beyond

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.

Ploughing and compaction under way, slowed by dry soil

The bare earth runway after ploughing and rolling, looking towards the wooded end, with the fenced boundary on the rightRoller tracks running the full width of the ploughed runway, with the hangars and the village on the horizon
A single drum roller parked at the edge of the worked ground, the ploughed surface stretching away to the leftA tractor with a mounted implement standing at the edge of the field in the low evening sun

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.

Ground work starts: first 200 metres of the runway opened up

The runway seen end on, with regular parallel grooves cut into the turf across its full widthThe painted runway markings in the foreground, with the freshly grooved surface running away towards the trees

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.

Work area fenced off as the runway is handed to the contractor

Wooden posts strung with red-and-white barrier tape, marking the edge of the work area alongside the paved path

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.

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