LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- Imagine a rehabilitation project that extends for miles across Los Angeles International Airport. Then picture the logistics. How do you complete a massive repaving job while airplanes are landing and taking off 1,900 times a day?
"I liken this to actually doing open heart surgery on a patient who is running a marathon," Los Angeles World Airports Deputy Director Roger Johnson said.
The upgrade is a federally mandated $250 million project. The ends of all four runways must be expanded due to accidents that have occurred in these safety areas worldwide.
"Aircraft have either landed short or in some instances had operational failures and ended up overshooting at the end of a runway due to braking problems," Johnson said.
Weathered asphalt is another issue. The runways were last paved 10 years ago. The asphalt takes a beating where the landing gear hits the pavement.
As officials toured camera crews, they pointed to an A-380. When it is fully loaded, it weighs 1 million pounds.
With so many landings, runways erode, debris is loosened and asphalt can be kicked up by the jet's wheels.
"It can actually damage an engine on take-off and landing," Johnson said.
Fixing acres of pavement will be further complicated by the lack of work area for an expected caravan of trucks. Even though it looks like LAX has plenty of open space to stage all the construction equipment, it is actually operating in cramped quarters.
Though it is the second busiest airport in the nation, it measures 1/5 to 1/10 of the size of other hubs.
The warning ahead: there may be congestion on the ground that will cause flight delays. Neighboring communities might also get more noise as the runways take turns being shut down and the traffic patterns are adjusted.
Construction is scheduled to begin next month and will continue for the next three years.