Sydney Airport Runway End Safety Area

Project Overview

In 2003, the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) introduced new requirements for the Runway End Safety Areas (RESA) to meet with changes to international airport safety regulations. International airports are required to provide a RESA of 90m by 90m to better cater for minimisation of damage and the rescue of aircraft that over-run or land short of a runway.

Baulderstone Hornibrook was contracted to undertake the construction work required by Sydney Airports Corporation Limited (SACL) to implement the sixth and final RESA.

Building Sydney Airport’s sixth runway safety area was complex due to the presence of critical infrastructure located at the western end of the east-west runway including:

• Sydney Water’s South and Western Suburbs Ocean Outfall Sewer, the city’s largest sewer which is also heritage listed
• One of Energy Australia’s high voltage power cables
• The M5 East Motorway tunnel under the Cooks River
• Other infrastructure including the airside perimeter road, a gas pipeline, and various power and fibre optic cables owned by Airservices Australia

Construction involved significant piling and headstock works and the placement of more than one hundred 27m long pre-cast concrete beams, each weighing more than 25 tonnes.

TBH’s Role

TBH was requested by Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government to review the proposed timetable, resourcing and construction techniques for the planned construction of the RESA on the western end of runway 07/25.

This review was undertaken in order to advise the Minister on the validity of the construction methodology and durations submitted with the major development plan.

To find out more about TBH’s Planning & Scheduling experience, please visit the Planning & Scheduling page.