Taxiway Refurbishment – London City Airport

Sector: Aviation
Client: London City Airport
Main Contractor: VolkerFitzpatrick
Works: Taxiway refurbishment

As part of the main taxiway rehabilitation project at London City Airport, TAG Construction and VolkerFitzpatrick were required to replace 2no taxiway links – Bravo and Charlie.

The main rehabilitation project was to replace and upgrade nearly 9000m2 of taxiway and associated services. For Bravo and Charlie these works were situated within the clear and graded area of the runway link. This meant that no excavation could be left open at the end of each shift. The total area for both links was 1400m2.

In order to maximise the use of the Saturday 24hr closure at City Airport the team put together a programme of works to replace sections of each taxiway link over 2 shifts in a 24hr period. This meant the replacement of up to 250m2 of 485mm taxiway in a 24hr period.

TAG’s expertise and experience in overnight bay replacements meant we were able to plan and execute a challenging programme of works that was very compact and demanding to complete in such a short space of time and to ensure the areas were handed back to operations with no issues. Each possession required the following works;

• Saw cutting was carried out prior to the works to maximise the possession time
• Vacuum lift out up to 250m2 of 300mm thick PQ concrete and cart away
• Break out and remove up to 250m2 of 150mm thick lean concrete base
• Excavate a further 60mm of sub base, trim and compact the formation
• Install new primary and secondary AGL ducts in the required locations
• Prepare bays, install shutter, install mesh reinforcement, drill and fix dowel bars
• Place new PQ concrete 485mm thick and finish

The planning and collaboration between TAG, VolkerFitzpatrick and London City Airport made this challenging programme of works a success.