Challenges

• Increase the airport’s aircraft parking and runway capacity to accommodate growth in commercial passenger and cargo operations.
• Expand to better meet the airport’s official role as back-up to Vancouver International Airport (YVR) in the event of an emergency or natural disaster.

Solutions

The expansion included the planning, designing, and provision of construction services for a 1,500-metre-long apron expansion, a 2,800-metre-long Group V parallel taxiway, two connecting rapid-exit taxiways at the Abbotsford International Airport, engine tune-up apron complete with blast fence, and 1,300-metre-long taxiway rehabilitation.

The main elements of the overall expansion included:

• support for a CEAA screening-level assessment for the site infrastructure upgrades and the development of a construction environmental-management plan;
• stripping, excavating, and stockpiling of approximately 250,000 m³ of native material;
• the construction of a new flexible pavement structure consisting of approximately 33,000 m³ of asphalt;
• the construction of new storm drainage facilities, including manholes, culverts, and infiltration trenches;
• the installation of approximately 25,000 metres of airfield-lighting cabling for new airfield lighting and guidance signage;
• new LED-inset taxiway centerline lights and edge lights;
• site works and design parameters for a prefabricated field electrical center, complete with regulators and modern airfield lighting control-and-monitoring system.

Highlights

• Stormwater run-off from the new apron, parallel taxiway, and connector taxiways is directed to infield drainage infiltration facilities, including perforated manholes and drain rock. Interconnectivity is provided by new and existing storm pipes and manholes. This allows for reduced pipe sizes, minimizes post-development flow to nearby streams, and promotes groundwater regeneration to the important local aquifer.
• Excavated native sand/gravel was processed and screened to form 45,000 m3 of granular sub-base material for the new pavement structure with no offsite hauling of material.
• Asphalt millings and crushed concrete generated by the apron/taxiway construction were recycled for perimeter roadway construction.
• Three runway thresholds were temporarily relocated to maximize work areas and improve safety, and the new parallel taxiway reduced runway occupancy time and effectively doubled the airport’s capacity.
• A new 150-metre blast fence permits the new run-up apron to accommodate three C-130 Hercules aircraft simultaneously, positioned 90 and 180 degrees from the existing apron taxiway alignment.