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For five nights a week, an army of construction workers have descend on Edinburgh Airport's main runway to work through the night.
Working from 11pm until 5.45am, Morgan Est's specialist paving team is resurfacing the airport's main runway. The £12m scheme for BAA involves removing and laying around 25,000 tonnes of new Grooved Marshal Asphalt and removing 1,028 old lights with associated primary cabling. The old lights will be replaced with 875 new ones and 98 wkilometres of new primary cabling.
Throughout the duration of the project flights taking off or landing during the night do so from the airport's second runway.
David Graham, Morgan Est contracts manager, said: "It's quite a sight to see a convoy of 120 construction workers emerging from the site compound and travelling up the runway each night. The reason for carrying out the work at night is to minimise the disruption to Edinburgh Airport's business."
The new runway surfacing, which measures 2,560m by 45m, is being carried out in approximately 60m sections at a time. To enable the team to see what they are doing they are using mobile stadium flood lights on a huge turntable which lights up 600m of runway. To replace the lights Morgan Est is using mobile tower lights which are towed out to specific work areas within the runway at the start of each shift.
Since the scheme got underway in April work has progressed well. Around 85% of the existing runway lights have now been removed, 50% of the runway joint repairs are complete and 50% of the new secondary containment system is in place. Work is due to be completed in November 2008.
(GK/JM)
