ABP

Air Traffic Control Tower, Visual Control Rooms & Radar Structures

Company Profile

• Visual Control Rooms (VCR) for Air Traffic Control Towers

  ABP is an internationally recognised leader in the design, manufacture and construction of Visual Control Rooms. With over 40 years experience, the company has led the way in developing new safety features for this critical environment. These products and associated features have been internationally accepted as significant improvements to the operating efficiency of air traffic control, with consequent improvements in aviation safety.

  Using specialised, in-house design and engineering capabilities, ABP has developed a complete portfolio of products to ensure delivery of a best in class environment for VCR personnel and equipment. All new designs are computer modelled and partially pre-assembled at an ABP factory using the highest quality components and minimising site installation time. As a result, all VCRs are delivered fully engineered, built to very tight tolerances and with factory standards of quality control.

  ABP take full multi-discipline responsibility for the design, manufacture and installation of their VCRs thus relieving the client of any interface problems that could arise between the different construction disciplines in a structure of this type. ABPs’ own site installation team has wide experience gained over many years in rapid installation techniques for VCRs thus ensuring on time delivery within an agreed budget.

  

• Sonarview Glazing -

  Anti-Condensation Glass for Visual Control Rooms (VCRs)

  Sonarview is a glass specially designed by ABP to meet the demanding technical standards needed for Air Traffic Control Tower glazing, ie safety and security, freedom from condensation and icing, sound reduction, and control of solar heating, glare, reflections and double imaging. Sonarview is a chemically toughened, laminated and tinted safety glass incorporating a heating layer, which may be controlled manually or automatically to prevent condensation and icing, It has been independently tested, and has been accepted by the UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), National Air Traffic Services (NATS), RAF, MoD and many other civil & military authorities around the world.

  Sonarview has been installed in over 40 of the worlds control rooms in some of the most hostile environments and in some towers has been operating for over 30 years. The Sonarview glass specification can be tailored to meet the most demanding environments to give the controllers the best possible working conditions.

  

• Radar Towers / Structures

  In 2005 ABP were approached by international defence & security contractor QinetiQ to design and develop a structure capable of supporting their new Tarsier Radar. QinetiQ chose ABP for their extensive experience within the airport sector and combined knowledge and skills building telecommunications structures.

  Tarsier is the world’s first runway hazard management system with fully automatic Foreign Object Debris (FOD) detection capabilities. Designed specifically to locate potentially hazardous debris on airport runways, Tarsier is bringing a new level of safety to airports across the globe.

  The design criteria set by QinetiQ demands a very stringent control on lateral and rotational deflection and this has been comfortably achieved using a hexagonal shaped structure and rationalization of steel members to offer an efficient yet robust product. The Radar Tower design demands a very high degree of manufacturing tolerance that is not often used in structural steel fabrication. Attention to accuracy is critical so all design work is performed in-house using the latest CAD 3D solid modelling packages.

  ABP continue to work with QinetiQ on modifications to the structure in order to accommodate new technological enhancements in the products capabilities.

  

• Visual Control Room Design Consultancy

  The primary purpose of an Air Traffic Control Tower is to support the Visual Control Room in its optimal position. The main function of a VCR is to give the controllers the clearest possible vision, in the best environment with the least visual obstructions and this is ABP main philosophy when designing control rooms.

  This approach to the design of Air Traffic Control Towers and Visual Control Rooms is often forgotten by architects and airport management and this is why ABP should be engaged at the very early stages of a control towers design. ABP offer a consultancy service specific to VCR design and material specification which will help eliminate costly re-design and variations to orders latter on in a projects programme.

  ABP can help with the ‘line of sight’ study and ensure that this critical information and criteria is carried through to the VCR design & ATC console positioning. ABP are Visual Control Room specialists with a worldwide reputation for innovative and functional designs.