Runway 23L

Landing the delivery

PROJECT: Runway 23L CONTRACTOR: Brian Perry Civil CLIENT: Auckland International Airport VALUE: $11.5m

Auckland International Airport’s runway 23L was reduced by 1100m in May 2020 to allow for maintenance to take place – the works being brought forward following the initial outbreak of Covid-19 and the concomitant reduction in air traffic.

An 80-strong Brian Perry Civil team delivered the Beca-designed project which involved breaking up and removing 10,700 m2 of existing concrete runway pavement, constructing a new cement treated basecourse, over 12 kilometres of airfield lighting cables and lights, and finally 13,000 tonnes of high strength concrete pavement.

Normally construction is offset to the side of live aircraft operations, but for this project construction took place directly beneath the flight paths of landing and departing aircraft—a first of its kind in NZ, and all of this delivered in just 12 weeks, on programme, on budget, with zero Serious Harm incidents, and – crucially for this type of work – defect free.

Runway 23L stands as a technical showcase for what can be negotiated, designed, and delivered between a motivated client and a capable contractor working together under considerable uncertainty on a highrisk construction project of national significance.