St Helena Airport development, St Helena Island

26th February 2016

By: Sheila Barradas

Creamer Media Research Coordinator & Senior Deputy Editor

  

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Name and Location
St Helena Airport development, St Helena Island.

Client
The British government’s Department for International Development (DFID).

Project Description
St Helena Island is located about 1 900 km from Africa, measuring 16 km by 8 km, and is one of the world’s most remote locations, with Ascension Island more than 1 000 km away.

The project involves the construction of an airport on the island. It will feature a 1 950 m high-quality concrete runway, with taxiways and an apron to cater for aircraft up to the size of an Airbus A320 and a Boeing 737-800; a rockfill embankment of about eight-million cubic metres, through which a 750-m-long reinforced-concrete culvert will run; a 3 500 m2 airport terminal building and support infrastructure; air-traffic control systems; a bulk fuel installation for six-million litres of diesel and aviation fuel; a 14 km airport access road; and all related logistics.

The island’s only lifeline to the outside world has been the Royal Mail Ship, the RMS St Helena, which calls regularly at the island. As a community that has no internal resources or an industry to support its economy, the British government has been providing extensive financial support for the island.

The bulk of the capital is spent on maintaining and operating the RMS St Helena. It is hoped that the new airport will address some of the socioeconomic difficulties on the island, boost the prosperity of islanders through tourism and help curb the exodus of inhabitants who are seeking work in Britain.

To assist in completing the St Helena International Airport, Basil Read has chartered a massive Thai cargo vessel, the NP Glory 4 from NP Marine for 36 months to transport fuel, materials and plant to and from the island.

Value
The project, funded by the DFID, was valued at £250-million, but the total value of the project for phases 1 and 2 has increased to about £265-million.

Duration
Once the projected construction of the first phase of the airport is completed in February 2016, the travel time from Cape Town to St Helena will be reduced from seven days, or 168 hours, to a mere five hours. After construction, the operations phase of the contract will continue in partnership with South Africa’s Lanseria Airport for a further ten years.

Latest Developments
Basil Read is participating in a further round of desktop audits with the regulator Air Safety Support International. Alongside this, work is progressing well on several fronts with regard to preparation for airport operations.

The outcome of the desktop audits is expected in February, and this will inform the next steps, including the requirements for an on-island audit, which is needed to certify the airport.

The permanent bulk fuel installation (BFI) in upper Rupert's Valley comprises four diesel tanks, two aviation fuel and two petrol tanks, each with a capacity of 750 000 ℓ. Considerable work has been undertaken on the fuel systems, and it is planned that future arrangements for fuel handling will include two separate floating hoses, one dedicated to aviation fuel and the other to ground fuels, which will be used to transfer fuel from ship to shore. These hoses will be connected to break tanks at the Bayside fuel facility. Fuel will then be pumped to the permanent BFI in upper Rupert’s Valeey using two surface pipelines, one dedicated to aviation fuel and the other to ground fuels. Fuel will then be stored at the permanent BFI in Upper Rupert’s.

Fuel intended for the power station, the island’s largest consumer, will be transferred from the BFI to the power station using a dedicated pipeline.

Detailed designs are being prepared for the ship-to-shore arrangements and the Bayside fuel facility. Work has progressed on the pipelines that will connect the Bayside fuel facility with the permanent BFI in Upper Rupert’s and on the dedicated pipeline to the power station.

Finally, all the fuel tanks and the firewater tank have been erected at the permanent BFI and the accompanying piping are now in place. It is expected that the commissioning of the fuel systems will take place later this year. Prior to this, the aviation fuel needed for airport operations will be managed using temporary ‘tanktainers’, with the island’s diesel and petrol supplies continuing to be managed at the existing BFI.

Key Contracts and Suppliers
Basil Read (designer, builder and operator); Worley Parsons (lead design and landside designs); Virtual Consulting (airside designs); KMH Architects and LYT Architects (architects); Atkins and WSP (independent certifiers); PRDW (marine designs); Lanseria Airport International (operations); Thales (AGL, Navaids – DVOR); Southern African Institute for Environmental Assessment, or SAIEA (environmental); Trotech (bulk fuel installation); BME (explosives); Ohorongo Cement (cement) and Babcock (supply and maintenance of Volvo construction equipment).

On Budget and on Time?
Too early to state.

Contact Details for Project Information
Basil Read project director Jimmy Johnston, tel +27 11 418 6325 or communications manager Jenny Smith, tel +27 11 418 6466.
Halcrow project management unit, tel +290 24258 or email Andreas.Huber@ch2m.com.
Babcock, tel +27 11 230 7300.
St Helena government air access office, tel +290 22494 or email tessa.roberts@sainthelena.gov.sh.
DFID, tel +44 1355 84 3132, fax +44 1355 84 4099 or email enquiry@dfid.gov.uk.
Worley Parsons, tel +27 12 745 2000 or fax +27 12 745 2001.
Virtual Consulting, tel +27 12 452 0444 or fax +27 12 452 0583.
KMH Architects, tel +27 11 447 4190, fax +27 11 447 2712 or email arch@kmh.co.za.
LYT Architects, email info@lyt.co.za.
WSP, tel +27 11 361 1300.
PRDW, tel +27 21 418 3830, fax +27 21 418 3834 or email info@prdw.co.za.
Lanseria Airport International, tel +27 11 367 0300.
SAIEA, tel +27 21 789 0251 or fax +27 21 789 0257.
Trotech, tel +27 31 764 1573 or fax +27 31 764 3353.

Edited by Creamer Media Reporter

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