A flying start for ACO's Airport Zone

For an airport to operate safely and reliably the environment needs to be robust; this helps avoid flight delays and cancellations, which can lead to disruption as well as increased operator costs. For this, effective management of surface water, particularly now more extreme rainfall events are being seen, is paramount. In addition, for contractors working on airport projects, products that help enable efficient and fast installation are key as work often has to take place within short timeframes, generally out-of-hours in order to avoid disruption to a live airport environment.

ACO understands the challenges facing airports and the importance of delivering high performance surface water management systems. The company’s latest website addition – which includes a number of case study examples as well as extensive detail of the products available and the areas they are best suited – is an essential resource for anyone involved in airport infrastructure.

The company offers a core range of products, which are ideal for airside spaces such as airport pavements, runways, stands and maintenance areas in addition to landside environments such as the terminal building, car parks, rail and bus interchanges and road links. As such, ACO is a major supplier to some of the busiest airports across the World. Projects include T5, Sydney International and Frankfurt Airports.

The company’s water management systems provide a number of benefits, which make them ideal for use in airports. Prefabricated offsite, they simply slot into place so are quick and easy to assemble and install. This allows contractors to meet airports’ needs of providing maximum output in limited timeframes. In addition, the solutions also help overcome significant design challenges while satisfying the demanding aesthetic requirements often seen on airport projects. The products also provide high performance and longevity – again helping to reduce unnecessary disruption.

The company’s Qmax is one such product. The high capacity slot drainage system is specifically designed to form an integral part of any modern, sustainable surface water management solution requiring effective storage, attenuation and eliminating carry over in stormwater conditions.

With a range of edge rail designs, the product’s versatility also helps meet aesthetic requirements while the use of lightweight Medium Density Polyethylene (MDPE) material, makes Qmax easy to handle and quick to install while still being extremely robust. In addition, its unique patented Pavement Beam feature allows an unbroken reinforced slab to be cast around the inlet, which provides a strong and stable installation and ultimately a well-supported pavement. Furthermore, the product’s corrosion resistant material ensures high performance for years to come. This longevity is also the result of the product’s resistance to industrial effluents, oils, petrol, diesel, road salts and de-icing agents – many of which can be found on areas such as runways.

ACO’s StormBrixx, a unique and patented plastic geocellular stormwater management system, which is designed for surface water infiltration and storage, is another good example of a product, which helps fulfill both the speed of installation and longevity requirements of airport sites. This is thanks to its patented brickbonding and cross bonding features, which provide a strong and long-term installation while making it quick to install. The product’s stackable design, also further helps ease the install.

Also ideal for airport applications is ACO’s RoadDrain, a tough one-piece channel drainage system. Manufactured from Vienite, ACO’s high strength recycled polymer concrete, the one piece system is strong and robust. The absence of separate gratings eliminates the risk of loss – this is particularly good for airport safety and reliability. The integral channel and grating design also improves the inherent strength of the system.

ACO’s high-performing solutions are also backed by unrivalled technical support. For example, the company now supplies graphical Building Information Modelling (BIM) objects and data across its core product range to support its increasing BIM program. As the first surface water drainage company to introduce this, the company is able to help ensure faster project delivery, reduced costs, reduced waste and greater project accuracy. This is well in advance of the Government’s target to have all centrally procured projects achieve Level 2 BIM by 2016.