Giant, mobile factory starts new runway work

Tag : Asphalt plant mobile
Giant, mobile factory starts new runway work
By Daniel Taylor 18.06.2008

A PURPOSE built asphalt factory has been built at RAF St Mawgan tosupply building materials for the re-laying of the runway byCornwall County Council.
The work, taking place through the night to minimise impact onflights, is part of the Councils preparations to assume completecontrol of the airfield when it takes over the St Mawgan airfieldsite from the Ministry of Defence later this year.
The plant has been built to supply enough asphalt to cover the7,500 foot long runway and will operate 24 hours a day exceptweekends.
Work is set to begin on Monday, June 23 and the contractor expectsto finish the job in three months time. Cornwall County Council mayalso operate the plant at weekends in order to meet supply demandand ensure that the work is completed on time.
A spokesperson for Newquay Cornwall Airport said: "As part of thetransition works it is necessary to upgrade the runway surface tomeet the requirements of the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA).
"The existing Porus Friction Course will be replaced with a newGrooved Marshall Asphalt. The resurfacing works will all be carriedout overnight as not to impact on the daily flying schedule. Daytime activity will be restricted to the delivery of materials tothe batching plant and on site preparation for the next eveningsworks."
Paul Roberts, clerk to St Mawgan parish council, said: "We receiveda planning application about this a while ago and we were generallyhappy with it though we did raise concerns over traffic.
"We found out that they were planning to bring in loads of thematerials through the main roads and make the asphalt on site sowere happy with that and hope that there will be minimumdisruption."
The plant is situated on the seaward side of the airfield andearthworks have been erected surrounding the facility to limit theamount of noise emitted. The work also means an increase in trafficof heavy haulage vehicles with 70 lorries expected at the planteach day.
"We have been told that the lorries will be using the moreappropriate roads and we're happy," said Mr Roberts. "We get onwell with the airport, their project manager comes to every one ofour meetings and consults with us."
The parish council continues to back the council's development ofthe airport and are confident that the work will cause littledisruption to the surrounding area.
"The plant itself is quite far away from any homes and they havechosen a good brownfield site.
"Our parish plan showed that most people were behind thedevelopment of the airport in order to help the Cornish economy sowe understand that this is a necessary work and that much has beendone to ensure nobody is bothered by it.
"Whether it causes any disruption - we will have to wait and see."
The relaying work is set to be completed in mid to late September.
Al Titterington, Newquay Cornwall Airport Operations Director, saidThe works have been planned to minimise disruption to both thelocal communities and to the daily commercial flying schedule. Therunway resurfacing is an essential component of the CAA Licensingprocess.
daniel@newquayvoice.co.uk