One peculiarity of this particular project is that, unlike at many international airports, the runway can’t simply be closed for four months while the works are underway - because Findel only has the one runway. Therefore planes continue to take off and land during the day, while 2-300 workers set to work at night to renew the surface.
According to Luxembourg Airport Project Director Stéphane Brondino, this is something that has to be planned in minute detail: “we establish schedules in which each task is planned precisely, with a margin of 15 minutes. From earthworks to sanitation, electronics, marking, but above all the installation of the new tarmac: everything is planned.”
For the past 35 years, Stéphane Brondino has worked on five continents. At the moment, he coordinates a consortium of six companies who take turns on the tarmac. It all started at 11 p.m. sharp, when a hundred trucks were transporting 2,500 tonnes of asphalt to the site where 250 workers had six hours to renew a 200-metre stretch of the 60-metre wide runway.
“The new runway is built on the old one. Everything has been measured using technology that utilises robots to roam the entire site. The larger machines are also controlled by computer - like a 3D printer where each layes is placed in such a way as to obtain an optimally slightly convex runway.”
At six o’clock in the morning, the four kilometres of the Findel runway must again be freed in order to allow the first Cargolux planes to take “the 06". However, the airport remains open in case of emergency, with 1,800 meters of runway which are still accessible. In the past six weeks, it has been used three times when commercial flights were delayed or to allow Luxembourg Air Rescue to take off when needed.
The runway, with a total area of around 137 football pitches, will be completely finished at the end of next year. In addition to the coating, the drainage and the markup will be renewed, including 1,500 new LED bulbs.
