A45/Birmingham Airport

UK Projects

Birmingham

Overview

Colas’s £55m JV delivering airport’s runway extension and ancillary works on a major, arterial route.

  • Total project value £55M
  • 470m extension of the airport's main runway
  • 2km dual carriageway of the A45 arterial route
  • 8km of new road construction
  • 289,926m2 of asphalt surfacing plus 108,044m2 of concrete pavement laid
  • 1 single contract to optimise efficiencies
  • Delivered in just five weekends

£55m

Project value



470m

Runway extension


Challenges

  • Logistics associated with keeping the airport open
  • Diversion of A45 to allow south run extension to avoid housing
  • Minimise disruption to airport users and to traffic on the busy A4
  • Supreme safety demands of runway surface quality and performance

Solutions

  • A 2-phase schedule minimised disruption
  • Created 2km section of dual carriageway to divert the A45
  • Then excavation of existing road to extend the runway-using 60,000m3 of excavated clay from road works as structural fill
  • Major on-site construction was deployed - concrete batching and mobile asphalt plants
  • Tight overnight possession windows for runway resurfacing work
  • Colas Campus for Science and Techniques our R&D facility in Paris designed a solution for optimal runway surface quality and performance

Download the full A45 Birmingham Airport Case Study here