Manchester Airport’s wheels are falling back on (–with video)

Manchester Airport’s Terminal Two is currently undergoing a £1.3 billion upgrade programme, with a new pier providing additional gates, stands and seating for aircraft.

To connect the existing terminal building to the new pier, a structured two-story covered bridge was fabricated offline and mounted on wheels.

More than 270 pieces of steel went into the construction of the new bridge, consisting of metal floors and 150 mm concrete floor. The 90-foot-long by 33-foot-high bridge was erected on the airfield over the course of three months. An eight-hour operation saw it wheeled and lifted and then crawled into its final position last week, using a self-propelled modular transport (SPMT) unit supplied by Dutch heavy-lift specialist Mammoet.

The Manchester Airport Transformation Program (MAN-TP) is scheduled for completion next year and will double the capacity of Terminal Two. About three-quarters of the airport’s passengers will use the new-look terminal when it is completed. Firms working on the flyover include Mace, which is overseeing the second phase of the MAN-TP project, and its suppliers Martifer, Bethell, Amco, LPL Construction Services and DGP.

Jill Fraser, the airport’s director of program delivery, said: “Installing this flyover was a massive undertaking and it was incredible to watch such huge infrastructure being carefully lifted into place, accurate to the millimetre.”

Mace project director David Hanmer added: “The window to move the bridge was very tight – to ensure minimal disruption to the airport and its passengers. As you would expect, it was no easy task, but everyone involved rose to the challenge.”

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