Balancing the various needs of an international airport is no simple matter – constructors currently building the new terminal near Lydda (a historical town whose name was recorded already in the year 1465 B.C.), 15 km southeast of Tel Aviv, must take into consideration the diverse requirements of passengers, airlines, government, airport operators and the environment. A visit to the site and talks with the leading figures of this construction project of the new Ben Gurion International Airport brought into focus the enormity of such an undertaking.
Diverting a river is not an absolute requirement for the construction of an airport. But in Israel, it has just been done: the course of the Ayalon River (dry in summer, flowing after winter rains), was changed to enable the building of the infrastructure of a new international airport.
Begun in May 1998, the first phase of the new Ben Gurion airport is scheduled to be finished in summer 2002.
As we drove within the construction area – kilometers across a twisting, partly unpaved road, surrounded by sand and rock, we saw rows of columns, some of them only half-finished, waiting to hold up a multi-level bridge and other links, and trucks of all types loaded with every kind of building material, such as sand, cement and steel. We wondered at the size and fast progress of this futuristic airport-to-be, which at this point looked like a technological version of the Wild West.
In a makeshift building housing many of the offices of those in charge of this enormous operation on 250 hectares- in effect, the currently the country’s largest national construction project, – we met with Zvi Frank, overall director on behalf of the Israel Airports Authority. Frank, who has been with Israel’s international airport in various capacities since 1976, is a member of the World Technical Safety Standing Committee of the Airports International Council (ACI) and an expert in airport management and urban and regional matters. He explained the raison d’etre behind the current undertaking: why a new airport, what led up to the choice of the location and how the new facility will look and work.
“Israel’s economy is based on the import and export of goods and people: agriculture, tourism and industry form the basis of this economy. From abroad, there are actually only two ways to enter and exit the country: by sea and by air. And what takes 12 hours by air takes up to 3 weeks by sea – it’s basically a 1:10 ratio. Except for oranges and other citrus fruit and the salts from the Dead Sea – potassium and bromide – every agricultural and industrial product is exported by air. That includes, inter alia, such lightweight and high value items as pharmaceuticals, high tech goods, and sophisticated plastics articles.
“Today speed is the motto: once manufacturers bought two pieces of machinery – one for use, another for reserve. Today if something goes wrong, they want the spare part plus technician within 6 hours!”
Israel’s massive immigration, Zvi Frank stresses, in addition to creating major changes in the economy, has caused a big boom in air travel in the last decade. While in 1991 Ben Gurion Airport handled 3 million passengers, (a long way from the 40,000 passengers who passed through the airport in 1948, the first year of Israel’s independence), the number jumped to 5 million in 1995, and currently 7 million travelers avail themselves of the airport’s services, with 75,000 annual aircraft movements. And while aircraft costs are going up, tourism costs are constantly going down. So, it is imperative that the aircraft spend more time in the air – and this puts more pressure on airports since these must supply required conditions in order to avoid aircraft delays and consequent prolongations of ground time.
The existing airport facilities at Ben Gurion airport were built by the British in 1936; they are not adequate to handle the increasing human load, and while from time to time limited-in-scope adjustments and expansions were made to solve immediate problems, for years no long-term planning was undertaken. The existing airport had reached the limit of its capacity.
It became obvious that the existing facilities could not be expanded, what with a major highway on one side, and inhabited villages on the other.
In 1977 the Knesset (Israeli Parliament) enacted a law making the IAA a statutory entity and gave it the mandate to build, manage and operate all of Israel’s airports. Before that, the IAA had been part of the Ministry of Transportation.
With an eye to the future, and the growing need to accommodate an increasing number of passengers, the Israel Airport Authority, a quasi-government body, owned by the state, but managed independently and investing its own money, began to look into the possibility of initially expanding passenger facilities and additional cargo handling capabilities at a later stage.
The IAA has set for itself the following objectives:
- To plan the development of Ben Gurion International Airport to an annual activity, in phases, of up to 16 million international passengers.
- To design, construct and operate a flexible and modular terminal area, which will be adaptable to changes in types of aircraft, transportation composition, etc. Concurrently, adequate solutions are sought for the development of infrastructure, handling of luggage, maintenance facilities, service and support.
- To minimize harm to the environment and take into consideration the well-being of neighboring settlements
- To execute the planning and construction as quickly as possible
“Of course, we had to plan within the law, and that involves a myriad processes”, says Frank. “There were hearings before numerous public committees. The national planning committee, made up of 35 government officials and representatives of the public, could bring objections and had to show alternatives, since all these procedures are a matter of public record.
“And all of it is under strict legal scrutiny. We even envisage the possibility of having the matter come up one day at the Supreme Court.”
Major debates took place over the two options — whether to develop the existing airport, or to abandon it and go elsewhere. The decision was made to go elsewhere, but where? Three potential locations were assessed, with two alternative plans for each of them. “While the discussion of the planning committee was taking place, we took the risk and invested $50million to get the ball rolling: architectural design and engineering programming took place between the years 1994 and 1998. Such a program, we figured, would fit any location that was decided on.”
The fact is that out of Israel’s population of 6 million, 4 million live in the areas of greater Tel Aviv and greater Jerusalem. The present location, between these two cities, is 3km west of the existing airport and was chosen for two main reasons:
- It is not good policy to move an airport more than 40 kms away from the main population centers, and,
- The more inland the airport is situated, the more it disturbs its surroundings. (While the chosen location is not far from the coastline, it is somewhat removed from it, since the coastline itself is under vigil of green societies in Israel.)
In May 1998 the digging and building got under way to build an airport which would surpass the present one with a much bigger capacity and a declared maximum level of comfort to passengers.
Major debates took place over the two options — whether to develop the existing airport, or to abandon it and go elsewhere. The decision was made to go elsewhere, but where? Three potential
locations were assessed, with two alternative plans for each of them. “While the discussion of the planning committee was taking place, we took the risk and invested $50million to get the ball rolling: architectural design and engineering programming took place between the years 1994 and 1998. Such a program, we figured, would fit any location that was decided on.”
The fact is that out of Israel’s population of 6 million, 4 million live in the areas of greater Tel Aviv and greater Jerusalem. The present location, between these two cities, is 3km west of the existing airport and was chosen for two main reasons:
- It is not good policy to move an airport more than 40 kms away from
the main population centers, and, - the more inland the airport is situated, the more it disturbs its surroundings. (While the chosen location is not far from the coastline, it is somewhat removed from it, since the coastline itself is under vigil of green societies in Israel.)
In May 1998 the digging and building got under way to build an airport which would surpass the present one with a much bigger capacity and a declared maximum level of comfort to passengers.
The new Ben Gurion 2000 airport is being planned with a budget of $650 million to provide efficient service for some 30 years. By comparison the recently opened Chek Lap Kok Airport in Hong Kong, with two runways, cost $7 billion.
The new complex at Lydda (Lod), Israel, will be an atrium-type terminal totally disconnected from the present one; apart from the same approach roadway connection and the three present runways – both roads and runways may in the future be extended – all is totally new. The terminal is based on two central buildings – a land-side and a spacious air-side building, from which extend five “fingers” of relatively short platforms. The two buildings are linked by a short corridor. The deployment of aircraft parking positions permit relatively short taxiing distances from the runways to the concentrated parking positions.
“Our ultimate aim is to be operative for 16 million passengers”, says Frank. “When we open the terminal in 2002, we plan to handle an air traffic volume of 10 million passengers.”
Traffic will be around the clock, with a pause for takeoffs and landings between the hours 2 and 5 in the morning. According to Frank, the IAA conducted many studies in relation to noise and came up with solutions satisfactory to the Ministry of the Environment. As for security from earthquake, the director explained that before the designing stage of the project, the IAA made a special geological study which then served the planners to design the site as required.
Forecasts indicate that during peak hours, the number of arriving international passengers will grow from 1,450 passengers in 1992 to 2,800 at an annual activity of 9 million, and to some 4,100 at an annual activity of 16 million passengers. A similar increase is expected in the number of departing passengers during peak hours, from 1,250 in 1992 to some 3,500 passengers when the annual number reaches 16 million. And when traffic gets to that number, it is estimated that the number of vehicles at peak hours expected to enter and exit the terminal area will be 6,000.
For all vehicles – the cars of departing passengers and arriving passengers, as well as public transportation traffic, there will be a multi-level roadway as well as multi-level parking. A clear and consistent vertical separation is envisaged between the vehicles of passengers and of accompanying parties on the one hand, and service vehicle traffic on the other. For travelers to the airport, a full new interchange – with traffic lights and free-crossing exits to and from all directions – will be constructed on the Jerusalem-Tel-Aviv highway (route no.1) to link the peripheral transportation system to the new terminal complex. Eventually, a railroad link will be established, connecting the terminal to the state-wide railway system.
There will be 8 carousel passenger luggage conveyors with a total linear capacity of 650-700 meters. The terminal will also contain passenger service areas, commercial areas, passenger traffic areas, airline operating areas, checking operating areas (passports, customs, and others). Net area requirements for the various uses amount to 100,000 m2 when traffic involves 5 million passengers annually, and 160,000 m2 when the number of passengers rises to the expected 16 million.
Project Teams
All the architectural and engineering designs of the entire airport project were executed with the help of AutoCAD – at first versions 11 and 12 – and later version 14.
Both foreign and Israeli teams are active in the construction. Some 350 people were involved in the planning and design stages, while the construction itself is being carried out by some 5000 workers. Four teams have joined in the execution of the project, each with a specific task:
Landside terminal
Skidmore Owings and Merrill (American) and Karmi Architects and Associates, (Israel) and Lissar Architects (Israel)Airside terminal and airside civil (aprons)
Black and Veatch (American) and Moshe Safdie Architects Ltd, (Israel)Landside civil ( multi-level roadway, parking garage, roads and
bridges)
Parsons Brinkerhoff International, Inc. (American) and DEL – Development and Engineering Ltd. (Israel)Energy Center/SHVSS (super high voltage substation)
Energy Center Design Group (ECDG) (Israel)
Construction program manager Bovis Construction Company has 70 management people engaged on the site, including accounting, survey, and site supervision experts. Working along with them are 2 Israeli management firms.
Mark Bodner of Bovis explained that CAD offers background information and shows where the various infrastructure elements are located. And it does more: the superimposition or overlaying in the CAD images of such elements as water piping, electric wires, etc., also assists in avoiding conflicts in the placing of these elements. “We have to submit shop drawings of blueprints and electronic information to the contractors, so they can see clearly where such pieces as pipes, ducts and wires, for instance, are located in context with other parts.”
“The contractors then submit ‘as-mades’ – drawings of the actual work done, and if that differs from the original design, the engineers must then redesign the installation.” “All this,” says
Bodner, “creates a searchable data base which can indicate, for example, how many square meters of wall have to be painted, and thus, how much paint must be bought.”
Mark Bodner, an American who has been with Bovis Construction Company for 12 years, is an architect with a wealth of experience in every field of construction. He was chief scheduler at the Epcot Center in Florida; in charge of upgrading and rehabilitating the mechanical systems
of the United Nations building in New York; manager of the renovation of Carnegie Hall in New York; teacher of the use of computers in construction management at Pratt Institute and New York University, and, just before coming to work on the project in Israel, he served as director of project controls for the Atlantic Committee for the Olympic Games in 1996.
“When planning for the Olympics,” explains Bodner, “we had to design large areas for temporary use, and shrink them for permanent use – quite the opposite of the present conception at the airport where we have to plan for a gradual increase rather than a decrease in consumption.”
Geographic Information Systems
Complementing CAD at the airport is GIS – Geographic Information Systems. Expert Eric Schwarz said both systems are being used here by architect, engineering and design firms. “CAD is replacing the drafting board and has brought the engineer closer to the drafting process. It has streamlined the designing process and allows the architect to send off his design by electronic mail to building systems consultants such as heating, ventilation, air-conditioning, electrical and plumbing designers, who, in turn, can respond immediately. GIS can replace entire archives,” Schwarz continued, “it is an information system which stores graphic, tabular and image data on all utilities built outside the building, such as fuel, electricity, sewage and communication.
“Hundreds of as-made drawings are stored in one composite electronic data base – it maps and masses spatial information. GIS is important for future maintenance – it answers the questions ‘where is what?’ and ‘what’s where?’ Thus, we know, for instance, where facilities that were built are found, where water lines go under the runways, etc. We know beforehand what we will see when we dig under a certain area.”
Schwarz is in charge of storing, managing and archiving a CAD file of some 10,000 drawings. He uses the AutoManager Workflow computing system to manage such a file. The CAD files he receives from AEDF (architect, engineering and design firms) he distributes to contractors and other external organizations, as well as to the Israel Airports Authority.
As we left the construction site, trucks with building materials were still zigzagging on the twisted road and the sound of drilling was in the air. Visible in the distance, on the extensive green grounds around this airport-in-the-making, were tall palms and citrus trees. Members of a neighboring kibbutz have planted fruits and vegetables which they sprinkle with cleaned, recycled water. It was good to see nature and high tech living harmoniously side by side.
