Construction of new Lisbon airport will require 5,500 builders
The construction of Lisbon’s new airport will be a project “of a magnitude not seen recently in Europe” and “will require financial and human resources on a scarcely comparable scale”, says Portugal’s airports management company ANA in a report just handed to the government.
The concessionaire anticipates that up to 5,500 workers will be needed, underlining “the risks associated with the availability and cost of skilled labour.”
A risk increased by the fact that the construction of the new airport coexists with the construction of other major infrastructures.
When initial excavation works began on the construction of Luís de Camões Airport in January, the Government also approved studies for the Third Tagus Crossing (road-railway) and for the launch of the Lisbon – Madrid High Speed rail line to provide accesses to the new airport.
During the next decade, the Lisbon – Porto – Vigo high-speed rail line will also still be under construction.
The future Luís de Camões airport will cover an area of 2,500 hectares at the former armed forces Alcochete Shooting Range, which is equivalent to more than five times the area of the current Humberto Delgado Lisbon International Airport.
The construction, which ANA expects will take about six years, will be staggered, one of the reasons being the availability or rather shortage of labour. The concessionaire’s project also divides the land into five zones, where the work can take place autonomously.
For earthworks alone, the concessionaire estimates that it will take at least three years, divided into the five sectors, with activities staggered at nine-month intervals. At the end of this phase, work on paving/tarmacking the land will advance, including the two 4,000-metre runways, which ANA estimates will last another three years.
The terminal, which will initially have an area of 589,300 square meters and will represent 36% of the estimated €8.5Bn cost, will also be segmented. “To ensure the efficient sharing of human and material resources, as well as the optimization of the operation of concrete plants and the supply of materials, the terminal will be divided into four independent construction sectors”, ANA states in the Initial Report.
The construction of the terminal, including the main building and piers, “will have a total duration of four years,” excluding earthworks, testing, and commissioning.