airfield design

Airfield Design February 6, 2013 Soheila Aalami

*  An area of land set aside for the takeoff, landing, and maintenance of aircraft *  Typically account for 80% to 95% of the total land area

occupied by an airport

Airfields

*  Geometric Design of an airfield *Efficiency in operations *Flexibility *Potential for future growth *Safety for aviation operations *  The two most influential sets of design standards: The

International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)-‐Similar but not identical coding system

Geometric Design of an Airfield

*  The land acquired for a new airport *  The overall geometric layout of runways, taxiways,

and aprons *  The size of aircraft which the airfield is designed for *  How the construction of airside facilities is phased

Sets of Standards and Guidelines

*  Inflexibility for responding to future developments (long-‐range planning ) *  Overbuilding in the initial stages of an airport’s

operation *  Adopting a nonintegrated approach to design *  Insufficient appreciation of the economic implications

of design choices

Mistakes in Designing Airfields

*  Failure of designers and planners to anticipate the eventual land area requirements of the airfield

Failure to Respond to Future Developments

*  Accommodate new, larger types of aircraft in the future needs either making very expensive changes to existing facilities or having to rebuild them from scratch

Overbuilding in the Initial Stages of an Airport’s Operation

*  Airports tend to be designed in a hierarchical fashion without full consideration of the interactions among the various subsystems *  Absence of a systems viewpoint: taxiway and apron

systems, in particular, are often inefficient and sometimes include parts that are obvious candidates to become congestion points *  Safety-‐related criteria such as minimizing the number

of runway crossings and reducing the likelihood of runway incursions

Nonintegrated approach to design of the airport

*  Design choices made to save some capital costs, greatly increase the operating costs of airport users—for example, by increasing taxiing times on the airfield.

Insufficient appreciation of the economic implications of design choices

Airport classification codes and design standards

*  Airbus Industries had received about 100 orders for the A380 *  Wingspan of 79.8 m, The first nonmilitary airplane in FAA

Group VI or with ICAO reference letter F *  Survey of 81 leading airports *  Principal problems: 1) runway and taxiway dimensions and separations 2) weight effect on taxiway bridges 3)The effects of aircraft size and capacity on passenger buildings *  $100 million per airport for the adjustments

EXAMPLE

*  Wing span and length *  Maximum certificated structural takeoff weight

(MTOW), maximum landing weight, and operating empty weight *  Number of passenger seats *  Range of the aircraft *  FAA takeoff field length at maximum certificated

structural takeoff weight, sea level, standard atmospheric conditions, no wind, and level runway

Principal Characteristics of Commercial Jet Airplanes

*  Every runway is identified by a two-‐digit number, which indicates the magnetic azimuth of the runway in the direction of operation to the nearest† 10°.

Runway Classification

*  Intersecting runways: motivated by the requirement to provide adequate coverage for crosswinds at an airport *  Landings and take-‐offs are typically conducted into

the wind *  Crosswind component = Speed of wind * Sin( Angle

between the wind direction and the runway centerline ) *  A runway should not be used if the crosswind

component exceeds some certain thresholds *  The number and orientation of runways should be

such that crosswind coverage is at least 95 percent

Wind Coverage

A wind rose and the wind coverage of two runways

Land area occupied by an airfield: *  The number, orientation, and geometry of the

runways, including length, separations between parallel runways, airport reference codes selected for the purposes of airfield design, etc *  The location of the landside facilities relative to the

airside facilities *  The additional land area held in reserve for future

expansion

Airport layouts

*  19 are in North America, 5 in Asia, and 6 in Europe *  North American airports process very large numbers of

aircraft movements every year, small number of passengers per movement *  Asian airports are at the opposite end *  European airports in the middle between these two

extremes

Busiest Airports in the World

*  Single runways *  Parallel runways: *  Close < 2500 ft (762 m) *  Medium-‐spaced *  Independent > 3400 ft (1035 m) or 4300 ft (1310 m) or

5000 ft (1525 m) depending on the country

*  Runways with different orientations

Types of airport layouts

Single Runway

*  The land-‐side facilities are to the side of the runway and passenger buildings and cargo buildings on opposite sides *  Advantages: lower construction cost, limited land

requirement *  Disadvantage: limited landing/take-‐off capacity

Single Runway

Close Parallel Runways

*  Disadvantages: *  No sufficient space for the development of a landside

complex between them *  Runways are not necessarily independent

Close Parallel Runways

Independent Parallel Runways

*  Advantages: *  Efficient utilization of the vast area between the independent

runways *  Reasonable proximity of passenger and cargo buildings to

both runways *  Better airfield traffic circulation, as aircraft can reach either

runway without having to cross another active runway *  Isolate the airport’s landside from the surroundings of the

airport and thus better control the landside’s development *  Reduced taxiing distances when one of the two runways is

used for arrivals only and the other for departures only


*  Disadvantages: *  Long/complex local transportation links and highways *  Extensive taxiway system that includes expensive

taxiway bridges passing over the access roads to connect the runways *  Placement of landside facilities restricts the expansion

of these facilities when traffic grows


Runways with Different Orientations

*  Advantage: Operation under most weather conditions and provides > 95% crosswind coverage recommended by the ICAO and the FAA *  Disadvantages: *  Difficult to operate from the air traffic management

(ATM) point of view. *  Vast land area requirement

Runways with Different Orientations

Calgary Airport

*  Taxiway systems at major airports can be extensive, complex in configuration, and costly to construct and maintain. *  Munich Airport: Runways: 8km, Taxiways: 30 km

*  Often an afterthought part *  Costs: Minimize (Construction + Operation)

Taxiways

*  FAA and ICAO standards specify recommendations for: *  taxiway width *  taxiway curves *  minimum separation distances between taxiways and

parallel taxiways, taxiways, and objects *  longitudinal slope changes, sight distances, and

transverse slopes

Taxiway Standards

Special Cases of Taxiway Design

*  The standards also include: *  Curved segments of taxiways *  Taxiway intersections or junctions *  Taxiways on bridges *  Exit taxiways, including high-‐speed (or rapid or acute-‐angle)

exit taxiways *  Holding bays and bypass taxiways

Exit Taxiways

Conventional, right-‐angle exit taxiway

Acute-‐angled exit taxiway, allows high speed exits

*  Provide the interface between airside and landside facilities at airports *  Passenger building aprons *  Cargo building aprons *  Long-‐term parking aprons *  Service and hangar aprons *  General aviation aprons

Aprons

*  Standards specify the safety guidelines (e.g., minimum clearances between any part of the aircraft and any adjacent building) *  Design Considerations: *  Both efficiency and safety are important *  Expandability of the apron area and its ability to

accommodate the full range of aircrafts are important issues *  Trade-‐offs between ease of movement of aircraft vs.

passenger convenience

Aprons

Thank you!

airfield design

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