Balfour Beatty wins £64 million Dubai Airport contract

International infrastructure group Balfour Beatty plc announced today that BK Gulf LLC, its joint venture in Dubai, has been awarded a £64 million (377.8 million AED) mechanical and electrical engineering contract to work on a project that will help Dubai International Airport deal with millions more passengers each year.

The contract, which has been awarded by the Dubai Aviation Engineering Projects (DAEP), through local contracting company Al Jabber L E G T Engineering & Contracting (ALEC) as main contractor, is to install the electrical, ventilation, air conditioning, plumbing and fire protection systems in the new airport concourse facility that will also include new aircraft stands and passenger boarding lounges.

BK Gulf will be using their innovative manufacturing system whereby installation of mechanical and electrical services consisting of pipes, ducts, power and containment systems is undertaken off-site before engineers are given access to the work area. This helps to speed up the onsite installation process, reduces potential for accidents on site and means that systems are custom built to the highest quality in BK Gulf’s purpose built facility.

Balfour Beatty CEO Designate, Andrew McNaughton, said: “We are delighted to be involved in this project which will help benefit millions of air travellers. Transportation is a key strategic area for us and aviation is right at the heart of that.”

“We are always looking to deliver the best possible results for our clients in the most efficient and sustainable way we can. This project is no exception where we have a design solution that will mean the new facilities we install will be powered by renewable energy through photovoltaic and solar panels.”

Dubai International Airport hosts between 60 and 75 million passengers each year through its existing and newly opened facilities. This new facility, to be known as Concourse D, is part of the airport’s expansion programme that will increase its capacity to deal with 90 million passengers per year by 2018.

Work has commenced, with the project due for completion by the end of 2014.