The Project
Heathrow is one of the world’s busiest airports, serving up to 79 million passengers in 2023. As a major aviation hub, Heathrow Airport hosts around 89 airlines, flying to more than 214 destinations across 84 countries. This means that any work needed on its runways, taxiways, and aircraft stands must meet the highest standards. It also means it must be completed as quickly as possible to minimize time, costs, and disruption of international travel. Luckily, two capable teams joined forces to carry out the endeavors of the airport civil works.
How to Make the Best Out of Complex Upgrades?
The main contractor, Mace, alongside sub-contractor Oliver Connell, trialed the use of the SmartRock® concrete maturity sensors to monitor the strength gain and the quality of the pavement work. The deployment of smart sensors was crucial in tackling the challenge of upgrading one of the airport’s primary taxiways, helping reduce its downtime significantly.
Paving the Way for Faster Completion Times!
With SmartRock in hand, the contracting teams envisioned promising results as the sensors showed potential to speed up the reinstatement of the pavement quality. This indicated that the taxiway could be returned to service 14 days ahead of schedule. The team immediately knew this was a game-changing advantage. Early completion would save the contractors time and money while reducing health and safety risks. In addition, it would minimize vehicle movements on an active airfield construction site.
SmartRock Empowers the Team With Unmatched Confidence
The SmartRock monitoring system consists of wireless sensors placed at intervals (about one every 80m³) within the concrete slabs. These dual-point sensors record data every 15 minutes over a 60-day period, transmitting real-time data to a mobile device. With easy access to real-time data, the team could accurately monitor the concrete’s early strength gain. This gave the parties involved the confidence to reopen the taxiway for airport operations sooner than expected.
SmartRock offered the potential for the taxiways to be handed back early due to the confidence it gave us in the strength of the concrete. This was possible based on the correlation of the mix design calibration results, providing the airport with cost, time, and program savings.”
Barry Mowczak, Senior Construction Manager at Mace.
SmartRock Success: Faster, Safer, and Greener Construction at Heathrow Airport
The successful trial of SmartRock for civil work at Heathrow Airport demonstrated that advanced technology can truly revolutionize hands-on work on the jobsite. The real-time data provided by the sensors showed that the concrete achieved its designed strength 14 days earlier than originally planned. This eliminated the need for core samples, which can introduce weak spots, and reduced health and safety risks from handling testing equipment. In addition, Quality Assurance determined that the concrete achieved its 30-year design life because it had successfully reached its designed strength. With all the work completed, Heathrow is now running at 99.7% capacity!
Another great aspect of working with advanced concrete technology is that SmartRock provides the confidence to use concrete with higher cement replacement levels, addressing the challenge of reducing CO2 emissions during construction. The innovative capabilities of SmartRock directly support Heathrow 2.0, the airport’s strategy, and its commitment to sustainability, helping it meet its environmental targets while maintaining the integrity of its infrastructure.
