PriDE manages Defence Estates’ South East Regional Prime Contract (SE RPC). Valued at around £380m, the SE RPC is one of five regional prime contracts currently in place in the UK.

March 2009

New Taxiway Loop delivered at RAF Northolt with minimum impact on airfield operations

Through collaborative working, co-operation and effective procedures, the £1.2m taxiway was handed over to the customer in May, increasing operational use and income for the site.

The original taxiway was constructed around 1940 and consisted of a concrete base overlaid with asphalt. This has deteriorated over time and no longer met the strength requirements of modern aircraft. In February 2008 a brief to upgrade the WWII taxiway was put forward for consideration.

Collaborative working creates better solutions
Initial surveys showed that to achieve clearances required by modern aircraft, the perimeter road would have to be displaced into the Officers’ Mess car park; this was an expensive and inefficient solution to upgrade Alpha North. Working closely with Defence Estates, Air Traffic Control and Operations, PriDE along with main contractor Lafarge, was able to offer a more viable solution, providing better value for money and ease of construction. The solution was to create a new taxiway on the in-field side of the existing taxiway, eliminating any interaction with the perimeter road and car parks.

Despite the design being ready by the end of November, the start was deferred to avoid leaving the ground open over the long Christmas break. This time was used effectively, working closely with Air Traffic Control and Ops to develop a working programme that would minimise the impact of construction.

Additional funds double the scale and value
Work began with a vengeance on 5 January 2009 as it was to be completed in year. By February the work was well under way with some stages almost complete – and then additional funds became available! The re-build of adjoining Bravo North was also required before the end of March. This meant the project had immediately doubled in scale and value!

The commitment from the whole design and construction team was evident as everyone worked hard to ensure the work on Bravo caught up with Alpha. The workforce was increased with a team of nearly 80 people working and 60 lorries a day visiting site – that’s a delivery every few minutes!

Air Traffic Control and Ops worked very well with the team, providing ‘no-fly’ time that was required to complete all work within the area of the runway, and a full weekend closure to complete the full depth reconstruction at the Bravo intersection with the main runway.

 

 

 

 

Health and Safety talks get good results
Daily briefings were carried out to highlight the responsibilities for practical work activities and safe methods to meet objectives. This dedication paid off as the project was delivered with no lost time incidents and no defects on completion.

Reduce, reuse, recycle
This entire project produced just two skips of waste! All 800m³ of concrete removed from the site was crushed locally and reused on site. The 1500 tonnes of asphalt planed out was reused, along with all excavated sub-soil, all contributing to the extensive profiling of the ground levels.

The support received from all parties at RAF Northolt ensured that both taxiways were surfaced together mid-March and met the in year deadline. The addition of a substantial emergency vehicle access ramp to the new loop only postponed the final completion by a couple of weeks, but its inclusion enables maintenance of essential emergency response time across the site.

The new taxiway will enable quicker aircraft ground movements and increased operational throughput of aircraft at RAF Northolt – an important achievement prior to the 2012 Olympics, which is being held down the road from the site!

Gordon Brown was onboard the first aircraft to use the taxiway! The airfield is used in support of UK Government Policy for visiting foreign VIPS, Government Ministers and the Royal Family.  Commercially, a range of business people and celebrities regularly use the facilities, generating a useful income for the public purse.

Learning from Experience – main contractor Lafarge was brought into this project having previously worked with PriDE on the runway resurfacing at RAF Brize Norton and also urgent remedial work on taxiways at RAF Northolt in December 2007. The experience and knowledge proved invaluable on this project.