The field visit to the construction site of Kuwait International Airport's Terminal 2 took place on Saturday, 3rd November, 2018. The visit was organized by ACI-KC Social Committee which is chaired by Eng. Dana Drobiova. As expected a large number of members attended.
Attendees were received at site by the Main Contractor, Limak of Turkey and the project's design and engineering consultants, Foster+Partners of England and Gulf Consult as their local associates.
The programme commenced with an informative presentation by the Consultants, and this was followed by a visit to the site, warehouse and the precast concrete fabrication location. The development of this new passenger terminal building and its associated work is being managed by the Ministry of Public Works, on behalf of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation.
The iconic terminal, designed to attain LEED Gold certification, comprises up to 51 contact stands, of which 21 can serve Airbus A380 aircraft and is supported by parking facilities for 5,200 cars.
Designed with two basements, ground floor, mezzanine and two upper levels, the building has a foot print of 140,000 m² and with back of the house facilities, amenities and support components commensurate with world-class airport terminals.
Some of the main features of its unique structural design include:
- High strength concrete of more than 80 MPa. Silica fume is used to increase strength along with another pozzolanic material, to assure that temperature does not exceed 70O C, especially in large size members.
- Chilled water is pumped through tendon sheaths (ducts) in the large pre-stressed members in order to cool down the concrete.
- The large number of precast roof panels vary in curvature, and a special system utilising pistons help raise the formwork for achieving the required curvature.