The main gateway to Australia’s Queensland region, Brisbane Airport opened its second runway on 12 July.
Completed at a cost of $764,170,000 the 10,826-ft long privately-funded runway project has been five decades in the planning with approvals commencing in 2005 and construction in 2012.
Home carrier, Virgin Australia, had the honour of operating the first departure from the new runway flying to Cairns.
Ben Garnett, Deputy Project Manager for Brisbane’s new runway explained that the COVID situation has certainly changed how the team worked to reach the practical completion of the project. “It’s really changed how we’ve had to focus and consider the additional safety for the people that needed to be on site – our essential workers. We definitely changed how we approached our work, we rescheduled, we moved to an online environment, if we had to be out here in the airfield, it meant multiple vehicles and separation of people. I think we have been very fortunate to adapt and finalise the construction ahead of time despite the hurdles.”
Brisbane Airport Corporation (BAC) opened the new runway which is more than three metres thick and which has 400 km of ducting pipes under the tarmac to run cables for the 2,2000 LED lights and optic fibre communication cables.
According to BAC the new runway will lead to the creation of 7,800 new jobs and contribute an additional $5 billion in annual economic benefit to the region by 2035. It has been described by BAC as a “key piece of infrastructure that will enable the continued growth of Brisbane, our region and the nation. Furthermore the new runway will enable Brisbane Airport to better meet the demands of the community it serves, now and for future generations.”
