Ireland’s Shannon Airport has begun a €15m (US$16.3m) upgrade of its runway, creating 100 jobs.
Work on the project includes the rehabilitation of the runway surface, the replacement of the runway edge, center line lighting with energy efficient LED lighting, ducting and other associated works.
Dublin based specialist in this area, Lagan Asphalt Group, with offices in nearby Tulla in County Clare, has been appointed by the airport to undertake the project following its successful bid under an EU tender process.
The project is being financed through a loan secured from the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund.
Matthew Thomas, CEO at Shannon Group, said, “Our runway is the airport’s greatest asset and has been the central artery of the airport allowing it to grow passenger numbers by 24% over the past four years. We want to see this continue and this is why the runway upgrade project is needed to protect this investment.
“This is a challenging and complex project with work limited to small time periods every night in order to minimize any inconvenience to our customers. The work is very weather dependent, and will involve the resurfacing of the runway, with a grooved marshal asphalt and the replacement of both our runway center line and edge lighting.
“At the end of this project we will possess an enhanced asset that will be key in driving forward our business over the next 25 years.”
Work will take approximately 26 weeks to complete and is scheduled to take place at night, five days a week excluding Sundays and Mondays. Consultations have been taking place with aircraft operators for many months to minimize any inconvenience, in particular, with transit operators who use the airport on a 24-hour basis.
Brian McManus, Lagan Asphalt Director and Project Manager, stated, “The project is one of the most significant runway rehabilitations anywhere on the island of Ireland.
“As Ireland’s third largest airport, Shannon has seen a 24% increase in year on year passenger numbers since 2013 and it represents an important catalyst for the development of long-term international business links and tourism visits.”