Announced today that Volker Fitzpatrick and Colas have won the tender to extend the main runway at Birmingham Airport, and to divert the A45 for this to happen.Total cost £65 million.
This will be Englands second biggest construction project in 2012 after Londons cross rail .
The A45 new section, will be 3 lanes wide with room for a tram system in the middle.The runway extension will be 350m taking it to 2,955m or 9,700feet. The current part will also be improved and resurfaced.
Work starts on both projects in July this year with the road expected to be complete in June 2013 and the runway extension opened by spring 2014.
At the same time time the new control tower will be fitted out with state of the art equipment which will become operational, with a brand new radar system in summer 2013.
Apparently not long enough to attract all those long haul airlines queuing up to fly into BHX....great that it is all finally going ahead but still sceptical as to how many additional airlines and flights it will actually attract
You can do that for £65m. There seem few/no bridge structures, which is where much cost goes, and the land purchase cost is not included in the price stated. These two know what to quote.
Civil Engineering : Muck out, concrete in.
Regarding the 2nd largest project in the UK after Crossrail, that's nonsense.
Yes I agree WHBM @ £65m it`s small fry really as £65m doesn`t go far now days. The Manchester tram extension is in region of £520 and there must be many more things going on in other areas which I can`t quote
Well compared to the Edinburgh fiasco, currently costing £1 billion(and rising), the costs to extend the runway at Birmingham seem reasonable. However, is there any real need to do it? Or is it being done with a customer in mind?
Well compared to the Edinburgh fiasco, currently costing £1 billion(and rising), the costs to extend the runway at Birmingham seem reasonable.
I presume you are referring to the Edinburgh city tramway system (or what was proposed as a system, now cut back to half of one line but still costing £1bn just for that) rather than any runway extension, which as far as I am aware is not proposed for Edinburgh.
Despite many of the comments on here and on the Birmingham thread the runway extension is going ahead! The investors in the project can see beyond the immediate future and realise that this extension will pay dividends in the medium to long term. Birmingham and the West Midlands have just as much right as anywhere else in the UK to have investment in transport infrastucture. This will help the region and the city secure jobs and prosperity for its people. Daza
Sorry, my bad! I wrote that comment on my phone. Not the best thing to do evidently. Yes, I was referring to the tram *ahem* system as an example of infrastructure projects that has gone horribly over budget without the desired results.
And miss all those hairy cross wind landings that make BHX a favorite with flight deck crew. An EK captain told me recently that BHX was top of their hate list for crosswinds.
Given the 15 / 33 alignment of the runway that doesn't surprise me in the slightest, but perhaps with the threshold moving a bit further southeast, and further away from the hangars, perhaps a bi-product of the extension might be to alleviate some of the crosswind and windshear issues.
Ms Greening please note: Problem solved, more runway capacity in the "South-East", its going to happen at London(Birmingham) International.
...But you need to build HS2 as well.
And before you think I am being ironic, maybe the journey time from BHX to London by HS2 wont be much different to Gatwick or Stansted to Central London by ordinary rail?
But presumably doesn't address the "hub" question. Land at London(Birmingham), onward flight from Gatwick....
Even today there are 3 trains an hour with journey times from the airport into central London at around 80 mins. Probably not good enough for time sensitive business travel but plenty good enough for those not under the pressure of time. An air/rail ticket deal should not be beyond the capabilities of marketing departments. I would far prefer BHX as an exit/entry point opposed to LHR/LGW.
The obvious question is, "what lies beneath Birmingham Airport?". The last two major runway extensions and runway leveling etc in the UK have revealed major sources of chalk and coal, both of which have been sold off to major industry contractors and have offset the expense of the initial project in a significant way.
I've no idea what lies beneath the existing substructure of Birmingham Airport apart from Cadubrys/Bournville Chocolate but I'm sure it's been a factor in their decision to expand.
You raise a good point about whats below the ground where the extension will go.
Well they had to do an archaeological dig as part of the agreement to build it, which finishes 2 weeks ago, looks like nothing was found.
They also did extensive bore drilling and soil sampling late last year on the entire area.
In relation to not much digging..there will be a fair bit.Although the area where the runway extension will go is in a dip and will need a lot of filling in.
Where the extended taxiway will go, theres a hill the current A45 petrol Stn it at the top of it.So thats will have to be dragged down with those huge earth movers..
The current part will also be improved and resurfaced.
