Driving Construction of New Istanbul Airport

The power of the Wirtgen Group is driving the construction of the biggest airport in the world: Plants and machines from Wirtgen, Vögele, Hamm and Benninghoven are playing a vital part in the construction of the New Istanbul Airport.

As so often on airport job sites, Wirtgen Group technologies are on the radar. That is also the case with the developer İGA, a consortium of the five leading Turkish contractors – Cengiz, MAPA, Limak, Kolin and Kalyon. The construction companies have opted for a Wirtgen Group fleet comprising over 50 machines and plants. Benninghoven asphalt mixing plants, Vögele road pavers as well as Hamm compactors and tandem rollers for soil and asphalt compaction are responsible for getting the job site set for take-off. Wirtgen slipform pavers are used to build a number of concrete taxiways.

The earthworks for the new airport were a major project in itself. On this 9,000 ha site, the challenge was to create a base with a high load-bearing capacity. But, with their operating weight of 16 tonne, the 10 HAMM 3516 compactors which took on the job were more than up to the task. The unbound layers of gravel and crushed stone were compacted with ease by the Series 3000 machines. They offer a winning combination of high centrifugal force and static linear load.

Strip by strip, the machines compacted the layers of material which had been placed by lorries (dumping height 30-40 cm) and spread by graders – laying the basis for an infrastructure that scores high on superlatives. A key advantage of Hamm technology for earthworks is the three-point articulation developed by Hamm. It provides for outstanding all-terrain mobility, supporting safe maneuvering even on rough ground. It also offers excellent driving comfort, since jolts are effectively dampened.

A total of 12 Vögele pavers are in operation, laying asphalt for the runways and a number of taxiways. In addition to the latest “Dash 3” generation of Super pavers (three Super 2100-3), some of the paving teams are also working with predecessor models (three Super 2100-2 and six Super 1900-2). These pavers have already completed many thousands of operating hours and are proof of the great longevity and reliability of Vögele technology. The machines are constructing the first three of a total of six runways – comprising a 29-cm base course, a 12-cm binder course and a 4-cm surface course.

The fleet of 12 Vögele pavers is equipped with extending or fixed-width screeds of types AB 600 TV or SB 250 TV. The AB 600 Extending Screeds have a basic width of 3 m and can pave at widths of up to 9.5 m when fitted with bolt-on extensions. On the airport job site, the Super 1900-2 Highway Class pavers operate with the AB 600 TV Extending Screed at a width of 

7.5 m.

The Super 2100-2 and Super 2100-3 pavers are also in the Highway Class and are combined with SB 250 TV Fixed-Width Screeds. Their basic width is 2.5 m, but this can be extended to 13 m using fixed and hydraulic bolt-on extensions. On the job site, the pave width is 12 m. In this configuration, the tracked pavers work “hot to hot”, consistently meeting the high demands on both quality and productivity as they pave the 3,750 m or 4,100-m-long and 75-m-wide runways and a number of taxiways – a total area of 2.2 million sq m.

A total of around 20 HAMM Series HD+ and HD tandem rollers are being used to compact the vast asphalt surfaces. They ensure rapid compaction and large area coverage thanks to the large drums. The kneading effect of the GRW 280-10 and GRW 15 rubber-wheeled rollers guarantees good surface sealing. With so many Hamm rollers in action, the runways are positively bustling with vehicles. In these circumstances, visibility is a key factor for efficient working and the avoidance of accidents.

To that end, Hamm rollers have excellent all-round visibility thanks to a large operator’s platform or the large, all-round glazed panoramic cabin that allows a clear view of the working area directly around the roller and the surrounding area on the job site. This visibility ensures the quality of the compacting work and a high level of safety.

When it comes to building concrete taxiways, the İGA consortium similarly brooks no compromises, electing to use machines from Wirtgen, the market leader in slipform pavers. Initially, two SP 500 models with dowel bar inserters, one SP 25 and one TCM 95 texture curing machine were used for the concrete paving work. They are paving taxiways with a depth of 40 cm and a width of 2-6 m. However, the technology was such a sensation on site that the customer ordered a further “machine set” comprising an SP 500 – one of the last concrete pavers of this type manufactured – and a TCM 95 from the Wirtgen brand headquarters in Windhagen (Germany). The SP 500 – which has been a genuine Wirtgen triumph – is being replaced by the new SP 60 series. The slipform pavers in this series are proven masters in inset and offset applications and can be equipped with a range of options, including a dowel bar inserter. This is the case for the three SP 500 machines in Istanbul. They insert dowel bars at spacings of 38-50 cm, thus ensuring the correct height of adjacent slabs.

The Wirtgen TCM 95 is the ideal co-pilot to accompany the SP 500 mid-range concrete paver or the new SP 60 and even the SP 90 series. The texture curing machine is equipped with an automatic spraying and brooming system. Once the surface has been broomed to the desired texture, the spraying unit applies dispersion to the fresh concrete surfacing to retard the evaporation of curing moisture, preventing stresses and the cracks this can cause. The TCM 95 is equipped with four wheeled chassis and covers working widths of up to 9.5 m.

(Communication by the management of the company)