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'Tried and tested' methods used for terminal building

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Despite its ultra-modernity, tried and tested technology was used to construct the 516,000-square-metre passenger terminal building.

Appropriately, the undulating, flowing roof resembles a flock of birds in flight. This light, airy feel is accentuated inside by the use of large areas of glass, wall cladding and roof lights.

Clinton Leeks, the Airport Authority's corporate development director, said that, with a tight construction deadline, the authority could not afford to risk delay and cost overruns by using pioneering techniques.

There were, in fact, delays with the foundations, which slightly held up the start of the terminal building, but these were weather, rather than design-related, construction having coincided with one of the wettest summers on record.

For those involved in the construction of the terminal building, the biggest challenge was not the technical complexity but the sheer size and scale of the complex.

The Y-shaped structure is 1.27 kilometres long, more than three times the height of Central Plaza, and contains nine levels from the automated people mover in the basement to the roof.

This has resulted in a huge logistical exercise, co- ordinating a mass of building and equipment installation across various floor levels and different parts of the same floor. The planning effort was helped by separating the construction contracts traditionally between building and mechanical and electrical installation work.

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