In order to generate revenue for local business and tourism, the city of Newport, Oregon needed to increase the number of landings at its regional airport, and so elected to install a set of landing lights that would attract pilots with lower visual ratings. Paramount to the project was erecting a structure that was unobtrusive to the natural seacoast environment and durable. 

There had to be little, if any, maintenance needed over the next 30 years that would disturb nearby coastal residents. Additionally, the coating on the structure needed to withstand the harsh corrosive environment of sea salt spray and 100 mph winds containing abrasive sand. The design engineer of the landing lights structure, having previously used 500 tons of hot-dip galvanized steel on a Sea-Tac airport project, quickly opted again for this proven, economical, and practical corrosion protection method. Over 200 tons of structural steel and grating were hot-dip galvanized, with some truckloads requiring 24-hour turnaround times from the fabricator's shipping dock to the job site. As if this werent challenging enough, the galvanizer also had to meet stringent inspection of the coatings appearance, due to the projects high-profile, by nature of its close proximity to automobile traffic on Highway 101.