Manila International Airport is an increasingly busy hub for the Philippine island archipelago; air traffic is heavy with nationals travelling to work within Asia and the Middle East, and a growing tourist industry. At the time of the project, two passenger terminals were in operation, and third was under development. The airport is unusual in that the hydrant systems for each terminal are separate and quite different in concept. The fuel farm was small, old and supplied only by road transport.
ejet were appointed Consultant to Shell Aviation (who in turn acted as project engineering participant to the joint venture) for a new fuel farm and feeder pipelines to connect all three hydrant systems together. Our activities included:
- Preparation of the Business Plan to extend the oil companies’ lease on the airport in order that the project could receive go ahead
- Project risk assessment and planning
- Base Design and front end engineering including; piping, mechanical, electrical, instrument and control, civils, pipelines and tanks
- Procurement of long lead time materials
- Preparation of the Pre-qualification document for EPC contractor selection
- Preparation of EPC tender documents
- Preparation of EPC contract
- Tender negotiations and tender evaluation
- Stress analysis for the twin 18 inch feeder pipelines
- Geotechnical report review for new Tank Farm site
- Geotechnical report review for microtunnelling below runways and taxiways
- Construction Management and Client representation by provision of an on-site team of professional project managers, engineers, contracts specialists and administrators and fulfilling roles including:
- Monitoring of contractor performance (administration, Quality Assurance, Safety, Design, Engineering, Construction, Environment)
- Quality and Safety Auditing
- Management reporting
- Measurement and monitoring of contractor work execution
- Scrutinising contractor payment submissions
- Evaluation of contractor claims and third party claims
- Project co-ordination and overall planning
The project required extensive coordination and safety controls due to the fact that the airside works were being carried out on a fully operational international airport.
The most challenging construction issue was undoubtedly the way in which the pipelines crossed under two live runways and associated taxiways. It was necessary to bore two microtunnels, each 1.2m in diameter and push twin pipelines and numerous cable ducts through on a rail system. One of the tunnels was 400m long, and both were at considerable depth. Whilst it was the part of the project with most risk, it was completed without any delay to aircraft operations. Deep tunnelling is a relatively unusual way of installing pipelines under runways but was the most feasible option in this case. It gave us excellent experience in managing complicated construction on a live airport, and some interesting photographs as mementos!
