FLYING HIGH with a World Record Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport, New Benchmarks

Ahmedabad is the busiest airport in the state of Gujarat, with more than 200 flights operational on a daily basis in the pre-covid period. While the airport has been serving citizens daily with domestic and international flights, the runway and the other aspects of the airport needed an uplift to keep up with the growing demand post the pandemic.

As travel rapidly increased this year, the challenge of re-carpeting the runway without impacting the flight operations was taken up at the airport. India’s airports are experiencing rapid growth and contributing to this, the development of the aviation infrastructure in Ahmedabad was undertaken with the latest technologies and top companies.

Ahmedabad Airport has a single runway, designated 5/23. The runway is 3489m long and 46m wide. It is surfaced with concrete and asphalt. The runway enhancement project includes runway overlaying, strip grading and slope assessment, grading of runway end safety area, storm water drains construction and the reinstallation of signages.

One million safe manhours supported the runway’s project work with 600 individuals featuring the staff and workers and 300+ sophisticated pieces of equipment. The re-carpeting project was estimated to be completed in two phases that would span three calendar years. Later, the target was 90 days, but it was achieved in just 75 days!

AICPL –Building Excellence with 40 Years of Expertise

AICPL played a significant role in fulfilling the project’s essential requirements, and along with Adani Airport Holding Limited (AAHL), they only used nine hours of Notice to Airmen (NOTAM) daily. During the 75 days of the re-carpeting work, AMD kept the runway open for 160 flights daily for almost 15 hours a day. As an aviation infrastructure company, AICPL handles projects with consistent quality and safety assurance.

Paving the Incredible World Record

AICPL, along with Dynapac was able to achieve an incredible world record. The re-carpeting of the 3.5 km runway was done in a record time of 74 days, an all-time best amongst brownfield runways in India. It is said that the quantum of asphalt laid during the re-carpeting of the runway was equivalent to a 200km stretch of road, and the concrete used for the runway drainage system was enough to build a 40-storeyed structure.

In order to complete the runway in record time, Dynapac’s full fleet of equipment was used. This included Dynapac 9 wheeled CP275 PTR, CC425 Tandem Roller & SD2530CS Paver. During the project, the company also achieved the milestone of laying 4178 metric tons of asphalt using the Dynapac Paver in front rowin just 9 hours.

A Synopsis of the Customer Interview

Since airports are the gateway to respective regions, they are critical in creating the right impression on visitors. Moreover, as per IATA forecast, they will be almost double the passenger traffic by 2036, increasing the pressure to expand airport infrastructure to meet the unprecedented demand.

With the existing airports in PPP model and the government’s plan to privatize over 22 airports by 2025, AICPL envisions more opportunities in the aviation sector. In the next 5 years, AICPL will become the one-stopsolution for all airport infrastructures – from construction to preservation to maintenance, across all streams.

Kritarth Raja, Chairman of AICPL had kind words to share about their association with Dynapac and their contribution towards creating the world record. He mentioned that a project gains momentum with its efficient resources. They deployed Dynapac’s 9 m paver, which helped them achieve the target of working in sync with different OEMs.

According to Sumit Srivastava, Regional Manager West, Dynapac Road Construction Equipment India “we got opportunity to work with AIC for prestigious project in Ahemdabad Airport with our Pavers and roller. We had learnt a lot from AIC and Pawan Rochlani Team. We aspire to work with AIC for their future Airport works with more accuracy and precision”

AICPL aspires to build lasting partnerships to enable its vision for the future. While breakdowns are unavoidable, it’spossible to control the frequency of occurrence. The reason the company always deploys new machines is to control this frequency. However, they expect a stock and availabilityof critical spare parts at the site so that there is no loss of time during any such occurrence.

Summary

The Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport in Ahmedabad has witnessed a phenomenal transformation in 2022. Along with the new runway, there are many new additions to the airport that are making it easier for travellers. For instance, there’s an EV charging station at the airport; there’s a new cargo terminal recently inaugurated, a new airfield lighting system, and much more.

Dynapac has played a significant role in upgrading the runway and the Ahmedabad airport. The resurfacing work of 3.5 km stretch with 45m width was completed successfully, in record time.

The uni-directional cross fall of the runway was changed to a bi-directional slope. There’s now an 8 km drain parallel to the runway on either side with 05 taxiways and 02 rapid exit taxiway stubs. The runway centreline lights offer a provision for touchdown zone lighting that illuminates Runway 23 for better visibility.

A total of 300 construction equipment units were deployed for the project, including pavers, excavators, rollers, dumpers, bowers, mechanical sweepers, transit mixers, etc.

Dynapac is privileged to be associated with this prestigious project, and we take inspiration from the case study to create new world records, build new benchmarks and set new guidelines for perfection and excellence in the industry.

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