Mangaluru International Airport teams marking the end of the runway re-carpeting work.
| Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
The Mangaluru International Airport will resume regular timings for flight operations from June 1, after the completion of the re-carpeting work of the 2.45 km runway in 75 working days on May 28. The MIA has urged passengers to check with their airlines for the updated schedules.
It was a milestone event, said MIA in a press release about the exercise that began on March 10. The unique aspect of the project, aimed at meeting compliance norms laid down by the aviation safety regulator, is the flexible overlay of asphalt on rigid pavement runway, which is the first of its kind in India.
The second busiest airport in Karnataka, handling 36 aircraft movement everyday, the MIA initiated the preliminary survey work on January 27 for the exercise. It used 8.5 hours NOTAM (Notice to Airmen) from 9.30 a.m. to 6 p.m. every day to re-carpet the runway without impacting operations of scheduled flights.
The MIA kept the runway open daily for 18 domestic and international flights on an average during 14.5 hours while it took 75 days and 529 hours to complete the exercise.
Extending the NOTAM to Sundays too from March 19, the MIA completed the work in 75 days involving 2.51-lakh manhours against the earlier planned 80 days. Asphalt equivalent to laying 82-kms of road (82,696 tonnes) was used by deploying 80 sophisticated equipment.
Meticulous planning executed with clockwork precision meant that the dumper trucks transported the asphalt to the runway where pavers, road compactors and laborers waited to get the day’s work underway.
After thorough cleaning of the runway, trucks sprinkled an even tack coat of bitumen. Dumpers in turn poured the asphalt into the pavers that spread it evenly on the rigid surface, after which the compactors took over to improve the surface quality.
The MIA had made provision for installation of runway centre lighting for safety reasons. “The airport executive leadership has lauded the airport team for completing the project ahead of schedule and thanked the people of the region and the administration for their unwavering support and understanding for coping with the altered travel timings,” a MIA spokesperson said.