2024 Airport Construction Projects

Each year the Airport plans and schedules construction projects concerning the airfield, airport grounds and airport buildings. Most of these projects are included in the Airport's approved Five-Year Capital Improvement Plan (CIP).   A copy of the approved CIP is available in the Document Center.

The Airport Construction Projects planned for the 2024 construction season are:

• Aviation Place Road Rehabilitation.  This project includes the rehabilitation of an existing road that is 25 feet wide by 2,450 feet long and used by tenants and Airport staff to access the airfield through five security access control gates.  Aviation Place is also the primary road for all emergency vehicles including fire, ambulance, and police to access the east side of the Airport, which includes Edwards Jet Center, Rocky Mountain College Flight School, Cape Air Maintenance Facility, the aviation fuel farm, private aviation businesses, and numerous aircraft hangars. A contractor will mill 2 inches off the existing asphalt surface and replace with a new 2-inch asphalt overlay.  The project will also include utility modifications, installation of conduit, pull-boxes and fiber option cables, and pavement markings.  The existing road was milled and overlayed in 2008.  It has met its useful life and needs to be replaced.  The work will take 45 days to complete; the construction estimate is approximately $500,000.
• Cargo Ramp Slot 5.  This project will construct a new large 137,000 square foot aircraft parking ramp for cargo operations to take place on, called Slot 5. Slots 1 - 4, which are directly east of this new ramp, were built between 2002 - 2013 and are at capacity many times throughout the year and especially during the holidays when packages are being transported; therefore additional ramp space is needed.  UPS and FedEx continue to increase the number of flights and up-size their aircraft each year. In 2023, they loaded and unloaded approximately 50 million pounds of freight, which makes BIL the busiest cargo airport in Montana and overall ranks number 63 throughout the entire United States. The Airport plans to build the new Slot 5 ramp in the summer of 2024. The project will take 120 days to complete and cost approximately $8 million.  This project includes 23,000 cubic yards of earth removal, relocation of an existing underground power line, installation of 56,000 square feet of 16-inch concrete, 81,000 square feet of asphalt, storm drain pipe infrastructure, a concrete block retaining wall, airfield lighting improvements, along with many other miscellaneous items.