EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif.ΓÇö A huge crack has closed a runway on the 44-square-mile Rogers Dry Lake, just five miles from the famous clay runway used by space shuttles and experimental aircraft, officials said.
Apparently caused by California's five-year drought and ground water pumping, the half-mile-long, 12-feet-deep crack may be the largest such fissure ever found in the state, said U.S. Geological Survey spokesman Devin Galloway.
The Air Force said it was concerned the problem could spread. The lake bed is crucial to the base because its clay surface provides long, wide runways suited to landings from many directions.
"Just because the fissure happened on one runway doesn't mean it won't happen on another runway," said Larry Plews, a civilian Air Force engineer who oversees the runways.
The crack, discovered about two weeks ago, runs generally north and south at the southern end of the lake bed, cutting through runway 7-25.
Assistant airfield manager Mel Marmet said another runway, 17-35, a 7.5 mile strip that is the base's longest, was put out of service last year by drought-caused crumbling.
The surrounding Antelope Valley has recently been plagued by fissures apparently caused by the pumping of too much groundwater.
Associated Press. "Drought Causes Crack in Edwards Runway." Associated Press story in Albuquerque Journal. 16 February 1991. E8.
