The taxiway decks are designed to carry a fully loaded aircraft weighing a massive 700 tons (this is larger than an A380!!!) across live traffic lanes.
Each of the Taxiways, which are identical, consist of:
- 1,900 m3 of concrete (40 MPa)
- 375 tons of reinforcing
- 1720 m2 of fire board attached to the soffit of the decks
- 22,500 no screws to anchor the fire board to the soffit
- 280 tons of falsework
The thickness of the decks varied between 800mm and 1600m, and the reinforcing steel ranging from N24 to N40 at 150mm spacings.
Each individual pour commenced at 0130 on the day of the pour and took approximately 5 hours to complete. The decks were then completed by applying a particular broom texture to the surface of the deck which is specific to aircraft pavements.Thermal controls were also utilised to control cracking of the concrete due to the thickness of the decks and the heat generated during the heat of hydration reaction.
For those wanting more information on the construction of the Dryandra Underpass project, this recent story in Infrastructure Magazine is a compelling read.
