Now Luxembourg Airport released a flashy behind the scenes video showing how, after 30 years of intense daily use, the strip was now made future-proof for all the heavy cargo traffic and passenger flights.
Under the cloak of night, between 11pm and 6am during the airport’s night curfew, a skilled team of 300 individuals worked on the construction of the new runway.
From earthworks to sanitation, electronics, marking, but above all the installation of the new tarmac, everything was carefully planned out to the minute. In case of machine failure, heavy cranes were in place that could become operational and lift any vehicle off the runway within 15 minutes.
A full new runway was created on top of the old runway, piece by piece, all while making the strip operational again at the crack of dawn.
In an interview last year, Project Director Stéphane Brondino explained: “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 layers is placed in such a way as to obtain an optimally slightly convex runway.”
The budget for the project was set at 254 million euros.
New security checkpoints were set up for the construction companies and workers, and all the materials were screened. Very close attention was even paid to the asphalt production.
By the time the sun rose each morning, the runway was open again to passenger traffic. At night, a stretch of runway remained open in case of emergency, for example for Luxembourg Air Rescue planes to take off.
