Airport works roll on
08 May 2008
Construction of a third runway and new aprons at Incheon International Airport, near the South Korean capital of Seoul, requires more than 105 million m3 of infill and the compaction of a massive 60 km2 area.
Construction on the two—runway Incheon International Airport, at Jong Island, 52 km west of Seoul, began in November 1992, with the first flights in 2001.
Work on Phase 2 was started in December last year and includes four joint—venture packages to reclaim an area of silt and wetlands with infill over an area of more than 60 km2.
This will be followed by the construction of a third3.75 km runway, plus 108 ha of aprons, as part of a planned expansion programme.
At least 10 Dynapac compaction rollers, including a newly delivered 10 tonne class CA 252 D single drum unit, are being used by contractors on the massive compaction project. Local contractor Sam Ho Development has been appointed sub—contractor for compaction work on two contract packages. According to Sam Ho's Project Manager, W S Shim, the work involves placing a 700 mm layer of 250 mm aggregate and constructing soil drains inserted to remove the excess water. After a short settlement period crushed 100 mm aggregate quarried from the adjacent hillsides is laid in 300 mm layers ready for grading and compaction.
Generally working in sub—divisions of 100 m x 100 m, the compaction fleet is making up to six passes of 100 m. With at least three passes in high frequency mode and the remainder low frequency, the contractor is able to achieve the specified 85% degree of compaction.
When complete the third runway will raise the airport's capacity from 3 to 4.4 million passengers a year. Freight capacity will also increase from 2.7 to 4.5 million tonnes annually and the airport will have sufficient capacity for the new generation Airbus 850 aircraft.
