Costain awarded airport contract

Costain has been awarded a £5 million contract to build a 1km single carriageway road at Manchester airport.

The company is undertaking a new contract for Manchester Airports Group (MAG), which will see it build a ‘spine road’ for an extension to the airport’s existing cargo centre, on ground immediately adjacent to the airport itself.

It involves the creation of a 1km single carriageway road with two 45-metre diameter roundabouts and two junctions onto the A538 road.

The expanded cargo area is substantial – around 10 hectares. It will be part of a much larger development that will span 10 to 15 years and is designed to transform the airport into a truly international destination in its own right. The first of its kind in the UK, it is aimed to compete with the major airport cities across Europe including Amsterdam, Frankfurt and Barcelona.

“Costain’s role is to provide the basic infrastructure for the site, i.e. spine roads and services so the airport’s future clients can then come along and develop their individual plots on the site,” explained project manager, Guy Wooley.

Around a dozen Costain personnel are working on the project, together with up to 40 subcontractor staff.

Value of the new road to Costain is £5m. Work started in early December and is scheduled to be completed in August 2014.

Costain has been working for MAG, whose airports include London Stansted, Bournemouth and East Midlands as well as Manchester, since 2004. The majority of the projects undertaken have been airside and involve the maintenance and refurbishments of the airfield infrastructure, such as runways, taxiways and aprons.