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San Francisco International Airport runway sinking, subsidence to cause delays

Tuesday, February 19, 2019

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Neither weather nor maintenance problems can alone be attributed to causing delays at San Francisco International Airport (SFO). Subsidence can lead to delays at SFO. The unsettled ground beneath SFO is causing problems for the airport operations staff from long. But increased traffic seams to aggravate the problem. Subsidence is causing surface cracks and the ensuing flight delays as per the aviation sources and records reviewed by the NBC Bay Area Investigative Unit.

 

 

 

In 2018, earth research scientist Dr. Manoochehr Shirzaei released a study in conjunction with NASA that analyzed satellite data to measure sinking land throughout the San Francisco Bay. The study showed that San Francisco International Airport is sinking more than 5 millimeters per year, a significant drop geologically. When there is precipitation – areas accumulate water upon heavy rain.

 

 

 

 

 

NBC Bay Area obtained runway repair records dating back to 2016. Several instances of linear cracking called ‘alligator cracks’ was found.  Shirzaei believes these fractures are the result of ground settling. Water pooling is a sign of differential sinking.

 

 

 

 

Runway repair costs at San Francisco International Airport totaled at least U.S. dollars 457,526.82 from 2016-2018, as per SFO work orders obtained by NBC Bay Area.

 

 

 

 

Between January 2016 and January 2019, maintenance crews shut down a portion of SFO’s runways for a total of 90 days to make repairs. That works out to one repair closure every four days during that time span.

 

 

 

 

When the runway is out of service and repaved, it causes flight delays. San Francisco International Airport is building strategy to address the issue of runaway sinking. These include repairs, building new seawalls to mitigate rising sea levels and land sinking.

 

 

 

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