Beech River takes off

New Tennessee airport is first in 20 years

By June Mathews

A collaboration of five governments has resulted in Tennessee's first new airport in nearly 20 years.

The construction of the Beech River Regional Airport in Darden was a joint effort of the cities of Lexington and Parsons, the counties of Henderson and Decatur, and the state government.

Situated in west Tennessee about halfway between Nashville and Memphis, the Beech River facility takes the place of two aging airports in Lexington and Parsons. Since neither of the smaller facilities could meet FAA standards, a safer, user-friendlier regional facility seemed to be the answer, and a series of feasibility studies confirmed it.

Ground was broken in the fall 2002 and the airport opened for business in May.

Airport manager Danny Azbill said the $15.7 million facility is expected to be a boon to the local economy.

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"This airport can accept cargo that the other two airports couldn't take," Azbill said. "It's going to help industrial growth in this area."

The Beech River Airport covers about 400 acres of land in rural Henderson County. To prep the site, 2 million cu. yds. of dirt were moved.

The airport consists of a 6,000- by 100-ft. runway, 4,500-sq.-ft. terminal building, 10,000-sq.-ft. maintenance hangar, three corporate hangars and 24 T-hangar units for servicing business, corporate and personal aircraft.

Beech River is one of only six general aviation airports in the state with 6,000 ft. or more in runways. A full-length, 35-ft. parallel taxiway was added for increased safety. Both the runway and taxiway are lighted and will accommodate commuter jet-type aircraft.

Azbill said more than 20,000 sq. yds. of concrete were used for the paved areas. The pavement design called for 9.5 in. of concrete over a 6-in. crushed stone base to ensure durability. To prevent water from pooling on the runway and producing potentially dangerous takeoff and landing conditions, the pavement is grooved. The paving work was done by APAC of Memphis.

"We're all concrete," Azbill said. "There's no asphalt at this airport."

The two-story brick terminal was built by John Allen Construction Co. of Big Sandy, Tenn., and contains a lobby, administrative offices, pilot's lounge, break room, conference room and restroom facilities. The hangars are pre-engineered metal buildings built by Graves & Graves Construction of Parsons, Tenn.

The airport also has a sizable fuel system that includes two 12,000-gallon tanks for fuel and a 2,200-gallon tanker for servicing jets.

The design of the Beech River Regional Airport was a joint effort of TLM Associates and HMB Professional Engineers.

"This project went really well because it was so well designed," said Joe Pope, project manager with Graves & Graves. "You've got to give the architect a feather on that one."