New Taxiway Bravo for London Luton Airport

Working as Contractor’s Designer for Ryebridge Construction, Fjori provided tender designs and commentaries for this design and build bid. The Fjori designs were judged by the client to be highest in terms of quality marking and most economically advantageous. This was partly due to the innovative use of pavement materials within the design.

  • London Luton Airport and Ryebridge Construction
  • Fjori Ltd
  • Luton, UK
  • 2017
  • Design and build tender design
  • Pavement evaluation and engineering
  • Drainage modelling and engineering
  • AGL coordination
  • Site supervision
  • CAA compliance
  • Airport liaison
  • The project includes the first full-scale use of cold recycled bound materials (CRBM) on a UK commercial airport, within the taxiway structure.
  • Includes designs for apron extensions, drainage attenuation tanks and ponds, and switch house relocation.
  • Fjori developed pavement rehabilitation designs for existing pavements adjoining the new taxiway.
  • Use of FAARFIELD modelling for pavement designs.
  • New areas of taxiway immediately adjacent to the runway and exiting Taxiway Alpha have been designed to enable nighttime construction prior to handback to the airport operations staff.
  • All new drainage is designed to integrate with the wider airport master plan which results in the need to attenuate discharge from the airport boundary. This will be achieved within an open pond which will utilise reservoir balls to reduce or eliminate birds landing and nesting in water.
  • All designs are EASA compliant.

This project involved the first use of cold recycled bound materials (CRBM), also known as foam mix, on a UK civil airfield within airfield pavements. CRBM will only be used in the lower pavement layers, with the binder and wearing courses being constructed of a Stone Mastic Asphalt (SMA) with a Polymer Modified Binder to delay deformation under aircraft wheels. All CRBM will meet the requirements set down by DIO in Specification 050 Recycled Bound Materials for Airfields. The new taxiways and apron extensions are designed for the latest generation aircraft, including the B787 Dreamliner, the B737 Max, and the A321 Neo.

The designer/contractor team has experience of well over twenty projects at the airport, allowing designs to be tailored with a high degree of familiarity to the airport and its operational procedures and constraints. Fjori has carried out a number of projects at the airport in recent years including hangars, a new taxiway, car parking, FBO planning, and as one of three consultants responsible for the new airfield masterplan.