Morgan Sindall has been contracted by Heathrow Airport to carry out £7.3 million of refurbishment and improvement work to its stands, runways and infrastructure.
Pre-contract enabling works have been carried out to make sure that there is no damage to underground services and the project team has already finished the first phase of the scheme, which involved resurfacing the T5 end of the southern runway.
The runway was resurfaced with a new polymer modified bitumen (PMB) asphalt, designed to use specifically in airports because of its high levels of strength and crack resistance.
The next stage of the project will involve working directly in front of the British Airways Engineering line maintenance base to replace underground stone water-drainage pipes.
The site team will work through the night and has constructed a purpose-built route to allow aircraft to reach the base, therefore minimising disruption to one of the busiest areas of the airport.
Morgan Sindall is one of four contractors on the Q6 framework, appointed to deliver a £1.5 billion upgrade and improvement framework at Heathrow Airport by 2019.
Keith Cannin, managing director of aviation at Morgan Sindall, said: “We have a long standing relationship with Heathrow Airport and a track record of successfully delivering this kind of work. Our site team understand the pressures and considerations involved working in a live airside environment and always take the necessary measures to mitigate interruptions at the airport.”
The work is due to be finished by the end of next year and comes after the refurbishment and resurfacing of the airport’s Sierra Taxiway as part of a £16 million contract completed last year.
Last month, Heathrow has suffered its worst August for four years, with traffic growth practically coming to a standstill at Britain’s biggest airport last month.
The west London hub handled 7,338,852 travellers during the peak summer month, which although a fresh record was just 5,752 more than August last year, a rise of less than 0.1pc.
