Brisbane’s New Runway achieves critical milestone

The construction of Brisbane’s new runway is well underway with the completion of the first portions of the critical link taxiways that will connect the new runway system with the existing system and terminals.

Delivered by McConnell Dowell as part of the $120 million Dryandra Road Underpass contract, the project includes the delivery of a public roadway due to open in late September that will travel under the taxiways, allowing access to the General Aviation Precinct and the Plane Spotters’ Area on Acacia Street.

Brisbane’s new runway by the numbers

• Brisbane’s new runway site is 360ha (2.5 times the size of the Brisbane City CBD)
• The runway is 3.3km long and 60m wide
• The taxiway system will be made up of 12km of taxiways (25m wide)
• The runway is made up of three layers: 2475mm sand, 600mm of crushed rock and 125mm asphalt
• The taxiways are made up of three layers: 1500mm sand, 200mm crushed rock and 490mm of concrete.

Project contribution to SEQ:

• 90 per cent of project employees live in South East Queensland (SEQ)
• 90 per cent of construction equipment to be sourced from SEQ
• Up to 675 people to work directly on the project during peak period
• Additional $5 billion in annual economic benefit to the region by 2035
• 7,800 jobs generated by the new runway by 2035

Dryandra Road Underpass

• 750,000m3 of sand was moved for construction of the underpass
• 5km of water and sewer pipes were installed
• 35km of conduits installed
• Nearly 20,000m3 of heavily reinforced concrete poured
• More than 700 concrete piles driven to an average depth of more than 30m below ground level
• 1.1km of separated roadway
• Four lanes – two airside, two landside
• Designed to withhold the weight of a fully-laden A380 and future variants (approx. 710 tonne)
• More than 700m of sheet piles installed