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To increase the capacity of London Gatwick’s North Terminal,
a new satellite building was constructed. To get passengers to and from the satellite, the
airport constructed a huge passenger bridge. This bridge spans a live taxiway and is sufficiently
wide and high enough to allow a Boeing 747-400 to pass underneath! So how was this achieved?
London Gatwick is the United Kingdom’s second-busiest airport. In terms of airports
operating with just one runway, it ranks among the busiest, once experiencing a take-off or
landing every 65 seconds at peak times. To facilitate more capacity at the airport,
Pier 6 was developed to add 11 new aircraft stands. As it passed over a taxiway, it had
to be created high enough to allow an aircraft the size of the 747-400 to pass underneath.
Architecture firm Scott Brownrigg notes on its website: quote
“The bridge did not need to allow for the A380 to pass
underneath as there were no aircraft stands beyond the bridge which could take A380s.”
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To look at the story behind this bridge, we have to turn to the firm responsible for
constructing it: The Mace Group. Responsible for Heathrow’s relatively new Terminal 5 as well as
Mumbai’s Terminal 2, this firm was tasked with building Gatwick’s Pier 6 Bridge and Taxiway.
The project’s goal was to increase the capacity of the airport’s North Terminal,
through the construction of a new satellite building that accommodated
11 aircraft stands. To ensure a good level of connectivity, a 197 meter-long
pier bridge was built to link it to the main terminal. On its website, the company states:
“A landmark project, it is the first of its kind at any airport in the UK,
and the largest development since the North Terminal opened in 1988.”
Mace Group notes that extensive off-site fabrication had to take place,
stating that 73% of Pier 6 was built using prefabricated elements and components.
“The pier connector was constructed off-site to ensure minimum disruption to airport operations.
Construction in-situ would have closed the taxiway for more than six months,
resulting in a huge financial impact to BAA through loss of revenue.” – Mace Group
Working offsite for much of the time, the firm poured in one million hours of labor
for the project. Airport Technology notes that the fully enclosed bridge design was
based on the human spine. Being constructed offsite,
the air bridge was moved into position in May of 2004. Installing a bridge that weighs 2,660
tons to a height of 32 meters is no easy task. Mace Group notes that the bridge was moved into
position over a single night. This was done with the use of self-propelled modular transporters
(eight L450 lifting jacks), moving at 0.5 km an hour.
With this method of installation, the taxiway was reopened to aircraft after just ten days.
Mace Group states that this could not possibly have been executed without quote “modern
techniques in heavy moving and lifting equipment.” Have you had the opportunity to walk over this
unique bridge? Share your experience with us by leaving a comment.