The essential maintenance works form part of the $5 billion Future BNE program.
For the past three months, major works have been carried out on the ends of Brisbane Airport’s legacy runway, which shortened the length available for aircraft use from 3.5km to 2.7km.
Due to the shortened length, wide-bodied and international flights were required to use the new parallel runway. Following the successful completion of works, aircraft operations have now returned to normal.
Brisbane Airport CEO Gert-Jan de Graaff said, “We thank Brisbane residents for their patience during this period. We know it has meant temporary changes to where aircraft fly and we appreciate the understanding shown by the community.
“This work was necessary to keep Brisbane Airport’s runway safe, and the project has been completed within the time we promised the community.
“The team’s efforts to complete line marking while a low-pressure system delivered rain and strong winds was impressive, with crews using heaters to dry the tarmac so we could re-open it this weekend.”
The project involved replacing 18 cracked slabs at the end of the runway which were installed in the 1980s.
It included:
- Removal of 1,350 square metres of concrete slabs on the taxiway and threshold
- Placement of 570 cubic metres of concrete, with 90 concrete trucks
- Placement of 600 tonnes of asphalt on the taxiway, involving up to 80 personnel on site during the process
- Installing 1,000 sandbags to mark the shortened runway
- Use of a bespoke concrete mix that had to be in the ground within 60 minutes of being mixed offsite
- Use of a vacuum attachment to lift concrete slabs weighing hundreds of kilograms out of the ground, enabling a faster and safer removal process
- A public awareness campaign which included television commercials, catch-up TV, local print ads, online advertising, billboards, letterbox drops, e-newsletters and social media plus community engagement visits
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