14 April 2011
Adelaide Airport has completed re-surfacing of its runways and taxiways as part of essential maintenance works.
The overlay works, which are required to be carried out every 10 to 15 years, are part of Adelaide Airport Ltd's (AAL) ongoing program to provide a safe operating environment for all aircraft.
Corporate Affairs General Manager, John McArdle, said the runway re-surfacing required significantly more bitumen than that used to reseal roads around Adelaide.
"All up the re-surfacing project required more than 50,000 tonnes of asphalt to cover 450,000 square metres of runways and taxiways," Mr McArdle said. "The same amount of asphalt would be enough to reseal the 40km stretch of road between Adelaide and Maslin Beach.
"The airport also has replaced about 630 light globes with new LED light fittings to help reduce our carbon footprint."
Mr McArdle said work had mostly been carried out during the airport's curfew, between 11.00pm and 6.00am, to minimise disruption to scheduled services. During these times the cross runway, running south-east to north-west, was used for the small number of freight and emergency aircraft that are permitted to operate during these hours.
"I would like to especially thank local residents for their patience and understanding during the re-surfacing, particularly those under the flight path of the cross runway," Mr McArdle said.
"We undertook several measures to reduce the noise impact on the local community, such as limiting delivery of materials to daylight hours, turning off the reverse 'beeper' sound on large vehicles, and building a five metre high concrete wall as a sound barrier around the bitumen plant site adjacent to the runway."
AAL next major project is the construction of a new multi-level car park and pedestrian plaza.
Road works associated with the project are now under way, and the Federal Minister for Transport this week has approved the addition of a link bridge, which will allow pedestrians to walk from the car park to Terminal 1 without having to cross traffic.
The $100 million project will more than double the size of the existing short-term car park, with five levels providing short-term parking for 2,000 public and car rental vehicles. The car park is expected to facilitate approximately 7,000 vehicle entries per day.
AAL will regularly update its website to advise of anticipated disruptions to assist customers as much as possible – go to www.adelaideairport.com.au.
FURTHER INFORMATION: Please contact Mark Williams at Hughes Public Relations on (08) 8412 4100
