MastaTEX Geofabric for Brisbane’s new runway

The project: Brisbane's parallel runway

Brisbane’s new runway is the largest aviation construction project in Australia. Work on the site began back in 2012 with the major stages of construction now underway. Once complete, Brisbane will have the best runway system in Australia effectively doubling the current capacity. 

The $1.3 billion project aims to support the growing number of passengers into the future. The Brisbane Airport Corporation forecasts that the number of people travelling will grow from 22 million per year in 2014 to around 50 million by 2035. Hence the new runway project has been central to the corporation’s decade-long infrastructure investment program.

The final stages of construction to build the runway, taxiways and airfield got underway in 2017 after significant ground transformation work.

This project is made up of a series of stages, culminating in the opening of a 3 kilometre runway and over 12 kilometres of taxiways. Our customers CPB Contractors and BMD Constructions have formed the Skyway Joint Venture to deliver the Phase 2 Airfield Works. This stage includes drainage and landscaping and is worth $400 million.

The challenges

The New Parallel Runway (NPR) site, located on part of the old Brisbane River delta, is very low lying and is characterised by extremely poor soils.

To prepare the site, 5 million square metres of earthworks need to be undertaken. The underlying soils need to be prepared in a precise manner due to the massive loads that will pass over them. Extensive site preparation was undertaken from the very beginning of the project.

This included adding 11 million cubic metres of sand, installing 330,000 vertical wick drains into the underlying soils to depths of up to 35 metres and then leaving the site to settle for three years. The settling period allowed the weight of the sand coupled with the straw-like action of the wick drains to squeeze water out of the soil.

In 2017, with the ground properly prepared, the Skyway JV team could begin the airfield paving and construction works.

Jaybro's Solution

For the base reinforcement of the airfield works package, an 800kN/m geotextile was included in the design with very short notice. The hard-wearing HS80050 mastaTEX™ High Strength Woven was selected as a strong, cost-effective solution. 20,000sqm of HS Woven geofabric was supplied for use in the runway construction by Skyway JV.

mastaTEX™ HS Woven has an extremely high tensile strength at very low levels of strain, providing an effective solution in soil reinforcement. Thanks to GEOmasta’s in-stock guarantee and fast turnaround, the Skyway JV team received their order quickly and efficiently.

Because of their flexibility and versatility, mastaTEX™ HS Woven geotextiles can be used in a variety of soil reinforcement applications, including embankments on soft foundations, retaining walls, and steepened slopes. Other applications include liner support, void bridging, and reinforcement over soft, hazardous pond closures.

For any application where long term design of earth reinforcement structures is involved, mastaTEX™ HS Woven geotextiles are the logical choice.

Once the new Brisbane runway project is completed, the airport will have the same level of capacity as Hong Kong and Singapore airports and will give Brisbane the best runway system in Australia. The project is due for completion in 2020.