The Civil Engineering Contractor October 2018 | Page 17

Turkey’s Istanbul New Airport (INA) is on track for an October launch, serving 90-million passengers a year and 100 airlines. The INA is being built at a cost of USD12.3- billion on the outskirts of Istanbul, with construction work said to be 80% complete at the time of writing. The airport recently achieved a milestone by demonstrating functioning lights on the first of its three runways. The airport is being commissioned to handle 90-million passengers a year and will feature three independent, parallel runways, taxiways, a terminal building, air traffic control tower, communication and weather systems. Once completed, INA is expected to become an international passenger and cargo aviation hub, serving 100 airlines and reaching 350 destinations. The first runway at INA is ready for take-off and landing, and runway number one, which is 3 750m long and 60m wide, has been lit up. IGA is the engineering, procurement, and construction contractor for the project and is also the new airport’s operator. The new airport is said to have the ‘world’s biggest and most sophisticated Airfield Ground Lighting’ at its first runway. It features some 34 183 LED lights, while intelligent lighting makes the visual guiding process easier and improves situational surveillance and aircraft tracking systems. These systems are designed to allow optimised aircraft routing Britain’s Greater Manchester first ‘smart motorway’ has become operational. A smart freeway is a section of highway that uses active traffic management (ATM) techniques to increase capacity by use of variable speed limits and hard shoulder running at busy times. The technology went live on the final M60 section between Junction 10 and Junction 18, making the entire motorway between junction 8 of the M60 at Sale and junction 20 of the M62 at Rochdale fully operational. The system has been running successfully in other parts of the country for several years and delivering smoother and more reliable journeys. WORLD NEWS Turkey’s Istanbul New Airport (INA) is on track for an October launch, serving 90-million passengers a year and 100 airlines. to and from the gates, a more efficient traffic flow, and an increase in safety. IGA recently finished the baggage system, which constitutes the airport’s core. Runway number one is ready for landing with all the required equipment and in compliance with the relevant global standards. As part of the upgrade, an extra running lane has been provided in each direction along the M62 between junction 18 and junction 20. Also, technologies such as CCTV cameras and electronic signs have been provided along the M60 and M62 sections, while variable mandatory speed limits are being displayed to guide traffic along the motorway at steady speeds, thereby tackling congestion and stop-start driving conditions. Overnight resurfacing of key sections of the M60 and bridge maintenance have begun in August, as part of Highways England’s GBP100- million investment in maintenance work across the North West. Four more smart motorway improvements, valued at GBP500-million and delivering 90 miles of extra lanes to the local motorway network, will be constructed during the next few years. The M62 Junction 10 to Junction 12 project, which will link the M6 near Warrington to the M60 near Eccles, will be the first of these on which work will start later in 2018. Highways England has also planned work under the M56 (junctions 6 to 8), M6 (junctions 21a to 26), and M62 (junctions 20 to 25) schemes. Although this is the first smart motorway in the North West, the system has been running successfully in other parts of the country for several years and delivering smoother and more reliable journeys. CEC October 2018 - 15