DAA (previously Dublin Airport Authority) has seelcted Irish firm Roadbridge and Spanish infrastructure company FCC Construccion (FCC) to build its new 3.1km long North Runway
Groundworks will start in January, and construction is due to be completed in early 2021. The contract includes building 306,000sq m of new runway and taxiways, and 6km of new internal airport roads, as well as installing new drainage and pollution controls, 7.5km of electrical cable, and more than 2,000 new runway and taxiway lights.
North Runway will be built at no cost to the state – as daa is not funded by the taxpayer - and will support the creation of 31,200 new Irish jobs and €2.2 billion in additional economic activity by 2043.
“We are delighted to award this key contract to Roadbridge FCC and to move to the next phase of our plans to deliver the new North Runway,” said daa chief executive Dalton Philips.
“North Runway is an essential project for Ireland, as it will position the country for future economic growth for many decades to come,” Philips added. “North Runway isn’t Dublin’s new runway; it is Ireland’s new runway and it will boost the performance of Irish tourism, trade and foreign direct investment in a post-Brexit world.”
Roadbridge managing director Conor Gilligan said the Limerick-based company was honoured to be part of the consortium that will build North Runway. “We are thrilled to be involved with such a prestigious and vital national project,” Gilligan added.
FCC Construccion’s UK and Ireland director Miguel Angel Mayor said FCC had a strong track record in Ireland and looked forward to working closely with daa to build the new runway. “We have been operating successfully in Ireland for many years and also have significant experience of runway construction both in Europe and South America, having built more than 4.5 million sq m of airport runways,” he added.
"Mitigation measures" will include a voluntary house purchase scheme, and a sound insulation programme for homes that will be affected.
Dublin Airport is also investing €10 million in a community fund that will support a wide range of local initiatives over the next 25 years and has also bought land in the area, where it will create a new public park.
Picture above, from left, are: Santiago Farré Dot, FCC Construccion Europe director; Dalton Philips, daa chief executive; and Conor Gilligan, Roadbridge's managing director.