New runway end safety areas completed
Click on the following link to download the Runway Safety Project completion pamphlet for April 2010:
Runway Safety Project Completed April 2010 (0.3MB)
Resurfacing runways and taxiways
Sydney Airport has successfully completed the $26 million runway resurfacing project.
The resurfacing was an essential safety project and involved major maintenance work on the main north-south runway, the east-west runway and some taxiways, including:
- removal of airfield ground lighting;
- removal and milling of the top layers of asphalt on the existing runway;
- reinstatement of new asphalt; and
- reinstatement of airfield ground lighting and line marking.
Around 3km of the airport’s runways were resurfaced. Most of the work is being carried out on the main north-south runway, though the east-west runway and some taxiways are also affected. The work has to be carried out every 10 -15 years.
The work was undertaken between 11:00 pm and 5:00 am which ensured routine airport operations could proceed. Measures were put in place to minimise any construction noise associated with the work. The Overnight Airfreight Operators Association was also consulted to ensure impacts on freight operators were minimised.
No complaints from the public were received during the project.
Installation of stop bar lights
Sydney Airport has begun installing what are known as ‘stop bar lights’ at all main taxiway entry points to its three runways. This important $25 million aviation safety initiative will provide a valuable defence against aircraft inadvertently entering an active runway without Air Traffic Control (ATC) clearance.
Stop bar operations require the pilot of an aircraft to stop and hold at the red stop bar lights and to only proceed onto the active runway when ATC gives the appropriate verbal instruction and switches off the red lights. They therefore provide an additional layer of safety for passengers and aircraft. The red stop bar lights operate in a similar manner to a red traffic signal on a roadway.
The project will be undertaken in stages including:
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early civil infrastructure work (involving survey work and preparing conduits, pits and ducts);
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electrical construction and enabling works (involving lighting base installation, light installation, cabling, connection to circuits and commissioning);
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building works (Lighting Equipment Room upgrades);
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Control System installation (involving hardware and software system development); and
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final commissioning (including testing and training).
This is an important and necessary aviation safety project. As with similar projects in the past, work will be undertaken during the curfew to minimise disruptions at other busier times. Work on the first stage is underway and, subject to weather, the project is expected to be completed by mid-2012.
Sydney Airport will continue to keep SACF informed as the project progresses.