Enhancing Landside Facilities and Access to London Luton Airport

The project was an NEC Option A Design and Build Contract and Tetra Tech provided consultancy services throughout the tender stage of the project to enable Whitemoutain Quarries Ltd to accurately price and programme the works. Whitemountain Quarries Ltd were subsequently awarded the project as the Most Economically Advantageous Tender (MEAT).

Tetra Tech was also directly appointed Principal Designer (under the CDM 2015 Regulations) by London Luton Airport Operation Ltd for the detailed design and construction phase of the project.

Challenge

London Luton Airport is London’s fourth largest airport with passenger numbers of 14.6 million in 2016. The works included:

• Pedestrian link bridge and associated cores
• Extension and reconfiguration of the short-term car park
• Extension of the mid-term car park
• New drop-off zone
• Reconfigured central transport area (CTA) including provision of a new bus terminal and taxi rank
• Dualling of Airport Way

All works were to be provided while maintaining active operation of the all-airport activities including bus operations, car parking and emergency operations while maintaining pedestrian movements.

Due to the large-scale nature of the project and of the overarching development strategy at London Luton Airport, a number of design alterations and additional works were required including redesign of the CTA to facilitate phasing and sequencing, provision of a goods-inward road inclusive of an airside retaining wall and hostile vehicle mitigation measures.

Solution

We used our knowledge and experience in civil engineering and highway design to engineer efficient design solutions to accommodate the alterations required for the appropriate sequencing of works and additional works required by London Luton Airport Operations Ltd, implementing a number of design changes to accommodate the fluid nature of the scheme.

Solutions included the redesign of proposed levels in the CTA to accommodate a phased approach to the works and incorporating the design of a goods in-ward road into the scheme which required redesign of the drop-off zone configuration and levels as well as a retaining wall to retain the landside works from the airside works. The retaining wall was developed by Tetra Tech as a sheet pile structure due to the constraints encountered.

In our role as Principle Designer, Tetra Tech helped organise and participated in interface meetings between the landside contractors and airside contractors where conflicts had arisen.