Frankfurt airport closed at night for runway restoration

Airline Industry Information, Nov 30, 2004

AIRLINE INDUSTRY INFORMATION-(C)1997-2004 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD

Over 300 workers are attempting to turn the runway at Frankfurt Airport from what pilots described as a potato field into one of the smoothest landing strips in the world.

The reconstruction of the 4,000-metre runway is taking place at night so as not to disrupt flights, with workers on a deadline to finish each night's work before dawn. Project manager Gregor Rajewski said that the airport could not afford to be closed for five months for the work to be completed and its ambitious EUR38m plan to replace the runway 15 metres at a time is now being studied to see how it could be used on other transport links such as bridges.

Work starts at 2230 every night and after the first layers are dug up and the explosives experts that check for World War II bombs under the surface give the all-clear the three layers of specially developed fast-cooling asphalt are put down. The work is finished by 0500.

Frankfurt's new runway is scheduled to be completed by May 2005, reports Reuters.

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