Record building in Hong Kong
Mammoet transported the longest pedestrian bridge ever across the airport’s apron to its final destination in the world’s largest airfreight gateway. Careful and detailed planning was necessary to ensure that flights were only disrupted minimally.
The rush hour at Hong Kong international airport tends to last for around 23 hours of any given day – which makes installing a new footbridge in the hub rather a demanding task. If the new passageway concerned is the world’s longest airport apron footbridge to boot, then it becomes a really spectacular project.
The Dutch heavylift enterprise Mammoet accepted the challenge and made a big contribution to the successful installation of the 200 m bridge.
In its planning for the job Mammoet’s team prioritised the minimisation of the impact on the gateway’s aviation operations. In a first step Mammoet transported the 5,700 t bridge across the 3.5 km wide apron of the airport. This task took no less than five hours. Unfortunately, the bridge had not yet reached its final destination at the end of it. For the last leg of the transport Mammoet deployed SPMTs and used a hydraulic system to lift the bridge to a height of 14.3 m.
No rest for the crew
Mammoet monitored the hydraulic systems in Hong Kong’s terminal 1, where the bridge will be in action, making sure that the element was at the right height for the China State Construction Engineering Corporation Ltd to carry out the welding work. This took the total duration of the project to nine days.
Mammoet’s project manager Edwin Blösser told the media that “we worked practically 24 hours a day for the entire nine days, to make sure the airport’s deadline was met. The project was completed on time thanks to the good planning processes.” The bridge links terminal 1 to the ‘North Satellite Concourse’. It’s high enough to allow all aeroplanes to pass under it.
