Devanahalli airport works picking up momentum

Devanahalli airport works picking up momentum
Deccan Herald

The nine acres — marked for the Bangalore International Airport Limited (BIAL)...

The nine acres — marked for the Bangalore International Airport Limited (BIAL) terminal building in Devanahalli — perhaps best reflects the entire project’s progress. Six months after work started on the site, this is where things are apparently moving fastest towards shape. After completing the basement excavation, workers are busy concreting the footings and columns. Reinforcement and water-proofing are being done, while work at the pre-casting yard for the terminal building’s roof elements is also on.

The construction work by Larsen & Toubro for the Rs 1400-crore project, set to an April 2008 deadline, in its first phase is also covering the apron, taxiways, control towers and access roads. Chief Projects Officer Mr Sivaramakrishnan S Iyer says cut-and-fill work is being done on 3.5 km of the four-km runway. The runway, designed as per International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) guidelines, is one of the two planned for the airport, but Mr Iyer says the second one is part of the final, long-term plan. “Right now, we are focusing on planning the first runway, counting in various aspects like aircraft type, width, laden weight and wind direction,” he says. The foundation for the control tower, where the technical and administrative wings of the airport would function from, is over. So has rock excavation for construction of the Ground Support Engineering (GSE) building.

The Chief Projects Officer says except water for the construction work in the nearly 3,800 acre-land, the system is up and running at the site. “Right now, we are depending on tankers to bring in the water, but we’ll soon have the BWSSB supply of treated water from the Yelahanka plant. The pipelines for the supply are already in place,” he says.

Labour camps

The site also has two labour camps housing nearly 1,650 workers. “As the buildings start coming up, more workers, like carpenters and electricians, will be required on the site. We are making sure that the best of facilities are provided to the labourers, right from preferred food to clean toilets” says Mr Iyer. There’s a health centre, a shop and an STD booth within the camps, which have a substantial share of migrant labourers.

Last month’s rains did dampen the construction’s pace, but Mr Iyer says the lost time would be made up soon. With 14-hour workdays, the confidence is perhaps valid.

PROJECTS IN PROGRESS

*85 per cent of the terminal building foundation work completed

*Foundation of the control tower completed

*Rock excavation for Ground Support Engineering(GSE) building over

*Cut-and-fill work being done on 3.5 km of thefour-km runway

*Earthworks on apron, taxiways on
*Work on main access road from the NationalHighway on

*Work on boundary and security walls on