Work intended to start in early July at the Houston Memorial Airport, where upgrades will include a major makeover for an aging lighting system, will now take place no sooner than July 24.
The delay in construction is due to concrete test samples not being approved as of June 29. The airport will remain open until July 24.
In January members of the Houston City Council met with representatives of Jviation, a Jefferson City engineering and consulting firm, which is working the lighting improvements. Reinhold Electric of St. Louis was the low bidder at $654,825. Jviation was hired by the council to provide construction administration and on-site inspection services at a cost of $132,881. The total outlay is expected to be about $790,000, which is below the expenditures in the budget.
Under the program, the city will tap Federal Aviation Administration funds administered by the Missouri Department of Transportation that pays 90 percent of the costs.
The project will affect flight traffic at the airport.