Arturo Merino Benítez International Airport

Santiago Airport occupies a strategic position in South America (the continent sixth-largest airport) and especially in Chile where it is a hub for international connections. In conjunction with our partners, we build five new terminals, which will cover a total surface area of 250,000 m², designed to double the airport’s current capacity from 15 to 30 million passengers. The contract also calls for upgrades to part of the existing 30,000-m² terminal, two four-level car parks with a surface area of 93,000 m² and 800,000 m² of surface car-parks and airports roads.

BACKGROUND

What is at stake in this project is the need to accommodate this airport’s continued development where air traffic, in accordance with Chile’s economic growth, has increased by 9% in the past 20 years. In a developing country where air traffic is increasingly important, this airport occupies plays a key role. It handles 60% of Chile’s domestic flights and all of its international flights and connections. This design-build, turnkey project aims to respond to current and future needs by delivering five new terminals, car parks and airport roads, and upgrading 30,000 m² of the existing terminal.

TECHNICAL OVERVIEW

For this airport project, we put forward an ambitious architectural design who double-wave-shaped roof represents the Andes Mountain Range.
The building’s structure consists of foundations resting on piles, composite concrete-steel flooring, and a metal framework for the roof. Since the region is prone to seismic activity, we had to comply with the building code for earthquake-resistant construction, resulting in heavier structure for the building. In efforts to minimise disruption to passengers and aircraft traffic and ensure constant parking availability during the construction phase, we developed a very complex work schedule. We created a sequential timetable consisting of 37 interconnected construction phases. In order to save time and reduce costs, our schedule minimises the construction of provisional buildings and infrastructure and privileges the building of permanent structures that are made operational as the project progresses.

Our bid was accepted because we submitted extensive analyses that indicated strong future growth in airport activity. This project epitomises our expertise in combining design and construction.

IMPACT

This project gave us an opportunity to deploy the VINCI Group’s integrated concession-construction model. The project was designed using BIM (Building Information Modelling), which will allow us to provide the concession-holder both with a completed building and a fully digital model to facilitate operations and maintenance. More than 7,500 technical documents were delivered in nine months, and more than sixty BIM models were assembled and coordinated on an ongoing basis.
This design-build, turnkey project for five terminals with a total surface area of 250,000-m² that can handle between 30 and 45 million passengers leverages our consortium’s full expertise and know-how.
Following successful projects in Chile such as prison facilities, the Chillan-Collipulli section of Route Number 5, and access tunnels at the El Teniente mine, this new contract enables VINCI Construction Grands Projets to pursue its development in one of South America’s most dynamic economies.

Project participants

Client:
Ministerio de Obras Públicas de Chile (MOP)

Project management:
Nuevo Pudahel

Key figures

Implementation dates
April 2015 to August 2023

Surface area
New terminals: 250,000 m²
Existing terminal: 30,000 m²
Car parks: 93,000 m²
Surface car-parks and airports roads: 800,000 m²

Capacity
30 million passengers

Testimonial

“We complied fully with their specifications and they found our very detailed proposal convincing, especially with respect to project scheduling in coordination with airport operations and with our strong expertise in terms of traffic development and revenue streams from non-aeronatucail services.”

Astrid Tran Ba Huy, Project Manager, VINCI Airports

Dushanbe International Airport

Dushanbe

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