Newquay Airport Apron Extension

The project was to expand the existing apron by 10,000m² at Cornwall Airport Newquay in preparation for the movement of large aircraft during the G7 Summit of Government leaders taking place in nearby Carbis Bay. Our project team supported the Client through Early Contractor Involvement (ECI) to obtain the necessary funding from the Cabinet Office for the infrastructure improvements required. The works included:

• Removal of two grass “islands” on the existing Treloy Apron and replacement with pavement quality concrete bays
• Construction of a taxiway fillet to allow large aircraft to transit from Taxiway D onto the Treloy Apron
• Removal of redundant buried services, relocation of live existing utilities and installation of new surface water drainage across both sites
• Construction of four new runway stop bars, namely D4, G Fillet, G1 and H1
• Construction of a pit and duct network to carry the AGL cables for the new stop bars and for revised taxiway lights and new lead off lights from Runway 12/30
• Construction of bases for five high mast apron lights along with associated pits and ducts to accommodate the power supply and control cables
• Installation of drainage pipes under Taxiways G and D in preparation for a future Foul Water Pumping Main project
• Construction of a concrete base for the G7 VIP Reception Building

We engaged our supply chain specialists early to ensure buildability was addressed as the design progressed, resolving issues prior to works commencing to eliminate programme delays, whilst at the same time simplifying the build to enable the construction within the tight programme constraints.

The works area was within the clear and graded area of the airfield, in close proximity to the runway and taxiways.  We used these challenges (access restrictions, deep excavations and time restricted access) to optioneer and provide value engineering at design stage. This included the installation of an on-site concrete batching plant.

We engaged our in-house survey team to assess services information provided and to confirm the surveys needed to be completed to progress the design. Having this resource enabled the team to commence the surveys without delays as the survey team was familiar with the project from tender stage and it eliminated the requirement to procure externally, eliminating fee-on-fee costs.

The project was delivered within an operationally critical area. Continuous stakeholder engagement ensured that we could maintain the project flow by working closely with the Arrivals operation. Zero service strikes were reported despite a lack of accurate service information in an area with a high frequency of uncharted services.

The project had to be completed within a very short and non-negotiable timeframe. From design to being fully built and operational was achieved in just 15 weeks.

Our established in-house Engineering and Design services team supported our works teams at all stages of the project. We provided AOR within two weeks of the final completion of the project or sectional completion date to the client.

The project was delivered on time and the airport handed back to the G7 Conference teams. The successful handover, integration and completion of Airport Operational Readiness (AOR) was a key factor in successful project execution.

CLIENT: Cormac Contractring Ltd
PROJECT VALUE: £3.7m
START DATE: March 2021 
COMPLETION DATE: July 2021 
FORM OF CONTRACT: NEC Option E