Spence Bay Airfield
(Republished from the 17 October 1979 issue of The Voxair)
September 5, 1979, saw the completion and official handover of the sixth Arctic Airfield constructed by Military Engineers under the direction of | Construction Engineering Unit, Winnipeg. for Transport Canada.
The ceremonies at Spence Bay, NWT, were officiated over by the Minister of National Defense, the Honourable Allan McKinnon. The completed airfield was accepted by Mr. G. Atwood of Transport Canada and subsequently turned over to the settlement’s airport manager, Mr. G. Etoolook. Prior to the construction of this airstrip, the community of Spence Bay, with a population of 450 persons, was only accessible to the outside world by a small twin Otter aircraft. With the completion of the airstrip by military engineers, much larger aircraft now can service the community all year round. Airfield construction commenced in 1977, and employed a construction crew of 25 military personnel, primarily from 5 Combat Engineer Regiment, Valcartier, and eight local Inuit tradesmen for three summers. Over the 11 months of actual construction, 205,000 cubic meters of fill and $.500 cubic meters of screened sub-base material were placed and compacted to yield the finished airfield complex. The total project involved the construction of a 1,000 meter x 60 meter airstrip, an aircraft parking apron, building development pad, fuel storage pad and a 1 km access road to the settlement.
This year’s work, which began in late June, still required snow clearing before starting any earthworks. With the aid of the warm July sun, stockpiling of earth-fill and construction of the building pad areas were quickly accomplished along with surface finishing and landscaping. The permafrost caused few problems, because the quantity of fill required was relatively small, and could easily be scraped from the thawed surfaces in the borrow pit. The heavy equipment purchased by Transport Canada in 1976 consisted of three large bulldozers, two front-end loaders, three 20-ton dump trucks, a tractor with backhoe. a forklift, tractor and two crew-cab trucks. The personnel accommodation at Spence Bay consisted of a transportable trailer camp of three sleepers, one kitchen and one washroom unit. A weekly military CC115 Buffalo resupply aircraft from 424 Sqn. Trenton, carried in rations and repair parts for the military operation throughout the summer.
The technical and administrative support for this operation was coordinated by 1 CEU Winnipeg. LCOL R.V. Nordlund, the Unit Commander, extends his appreciation for the support of the Arctic Airfield Construction Program to the members of the CFB Winnipeg’s Base Supply. Ration Supply Group, Base Maintenance Land, Air Movement Section and Base Operations for their cooperation, flexibility and efficiency in supporting this operation. “The men at the sharp end received what they required, when they required it, and were able to complete the project to a very high standard.”
Arctic Airfield construction over the past nine years has provided valuable first hand construction experience for 29 military engineer officers, 380 military engineer tradesmen, as well as valuable training for all crews of 400, 424, 429, 435 and 436 Sqns in Arctic flying condition. National development projects of this nature once again prove that the Canadian servicemen can do the job, ANYWHERE, ANYTIME.