24.04.2008
Major milestone reached in the Pier C project

The renovation and expansion of Pier C reached a crucial phase in mid-April. The new second floor of the building was lifted into place onto the existing building in four sections. This was done in four major operations by two of biggest mobile cranes available in Denmark.

More seating, more light and space in the lounges and a new second floor for arriving passengers: Those are the changes that will be most visible to passengers when they arrive at the expanded and renovated Pier C later this year.  The Pier C project is just one of several projects at Copenhagen to improve facilities for passengers with an aggregate budget of one billion Danish kroner in 2008 alone.

On four cool evenings in April, a new second floor, divided into four sections, was lifted in place onto the existing Pier C. Each section weighs about 100 tonnes, is 30-40 metres long and 5½ metres tall. Together, these four building sections make up the new 130 metre corridor that will lead arriving passengers from their arrival gate to the terminal area.

A carefully planned operation

It looked easy, but ahead of the crucial lifting operations had gone weeks of planning to carefully prepare the operation and the roles of the many different parties involved. “Careful planning is essential before we do this kind of work in an airport in operation round the clock. We therefore selected a time for the lifting operations when we would cause the least inconvenience to passengers and aircraft. The mounting of the four building sections was a crucial milestone in the project, and everything went completely according to plan thanks to the very good collaboration with the external as well as the internal partners,” said Niels Brink Laursen, Project Manager, CPH.

Saving time and money The four sections that make up the second floor of Pier C were built at an assembly site just outside the airport. “The contractor chose this somewhat unusual method because it is much easier to assemble such big elements on the ground. That way, the exterior of the building in particular is almost ready before the elements are mounted. After the new floor has been mounted, the workers have to work at

a height of ten metres and therefore have to use a lift, which makes work more expensive and also more difficult,” said Brink Laursen.

Initially built in a 1:1 scale

The work is now outstanding is primarily interior finishing. However, the materials for and the functionality of the building were tested in advance in a 1:1 mockup model, which is approximately 7 metres long. “When we build large projects at the airport, it is a great advantage to be able to see what the various materials look like ‛in real life, but on a smaller scale, before construction begins. During the phase when the owner, architects, engineers and others are aligning their expectations and making decisions, it is very helpful to work with a 1:1 mockup rather than just relying on drawings and computer graphics. A mockup gives a much better indication about how passengers will perceive the functionality and appearance of the building,” Brink Laursen added. 

Before the new floor was lifted into place, a number of the lounges in Pier C had been expanded and refurbished to give passengers more space and daylight when they are in Pier C, which is mainly used for overseas traffic. The project will be completed during the next few years, including final mounting and fitting out of the 130 metre corridor that now makes up the second floor of the building. The renovated and expanded Pier C will be ready for use in September 2008.