The wintry weather of the past week has consequences for the maintenance works on the Polderbaan Runway. Because of the cold it is not possible to work on the foundation, the asphalt and the lighting of the runway. As a result, the work has been halted for a week.
Published on: 12 February 2021
Frozen ground
On 25 January, we started the major maintenance of the Polderbaan Runway. During the maintenance period we will replace the asphalt on the runway and the surrounding taxiways. We are also working on the runway foundations. Now the frost has halted work on the asphalt and the foundations. We can only continue when the temperature rises again, the ground is no longer frozen and the wind is not blowing too hard. Many of the materials we have to work with, such as sand and cement, have frozen and must first be thawed again before we can start working with them.
Lighting
We are also replacing the lighting with more sustainable LED and laying 70 kilometres of cabling. This work, too, can only be carried out when the temperature is at least a few degrees above freezing.
Taxiways in the cold
Work on the Quebec, Zulu, Alfa and Bravo taxiways on the south side of Zwanenburgbaan Runway has also been halted due to the frost. These four taxiways have to be elevated to connect them to the new viaduct across the A4 motorway. Now that the ground and materials are frozen, this is not possible.
After the frost
We expect that the work on the Polderbaan Runway and the taxiways mentioned can only be resumed once the frost has passed. The consequences of this for the runway maintenance schedule are not yet clear. We will only be able to indicate this after the frost period. As soon as we know more, we will report this as soon as possible.