The Heathrow Airport has been one of the grand civil engineering projects within the United Kingdom together with the Servern Barrage. The architects behind this airport project are Roger Stirk Harbour and Partners, RSHP, who broke the new platform in designing the Terminal 5 at Londons Heathrow Airport (Brian, 2006, p. 31). The main idea here was to come up with a way of ensuring that they modernized one of the worlds highly frequented or visited airports. This project design on Terminal 5 was geared in reducing the time that was being wasted during travel procedures and cargo operations.
Looking at the past information recorded in the airport operations, there are over thirty-five million travelers who pass through the Terminal, and their time spent between check-in until the departure gate has been reduced to about an average of eleven minutes or even less (Brian, 2006, p. 36).The project behind the creation of the Terminal 5 was to ensure that there was no much time wasted by passengers during bookings, check-ins and departure. The Terminal has been erected on a very small area which is equivalent to Hyde Park in London. This means that it has been able to utilise some space for a big engineering project. Looking at the Terminals main building, it measures an equivalence of fifty football pitches, and each is ten for every floor (Brian, 2006, p. 42). There has also been the creation of luxurious bathrooms within the Terminal these have been furnished using different shower panels.
Terminal 5- Heathrow Airport Project Site History
Aviation is the major practice on which the history of the project is based on. Looking at history, the development of this project must have began somewhere during the World War I (Bernard, 2006, p. 15). The site was used by the British military for airfield operations during the war. By the end of that decade, this airfield was given the name the Great West Aerodrome. The Aerodrome was owned privately by the Fairey Aviation Company, FAC. This company used the place as an aircraft assembly centre, and also for carrying out tests on planes and crafts (Roger, 2008, p. 47). Since then there have been a number of developments which later resulted in the present Heathrow Airport Terminal 5.
Later in the 1960s, about 160acres Terminal for cargo handling was constructed. This was constructed in such a way that it combined to the southern Terminals 1 and 2. This connection was achieved through digging a tunnel (Roger, 2008, p. 41). Between that period and the 1990s, the third Terminal had to be expanded so that it could be able to handle the increasing number of arrivals in the airport. There were more and more facilities that continued to be added, and some was the construction of pathways and exit paths. The Heathrow Airport was able to have two extra runways, the 09R-27L and 09L-27R, which had to be extended to the already existing lengths. This would be useful in ensuring that the airport could accommodate any new increase in jets and even for the big jets such as the Boeing 747 (Bernard, 2006, p. 19). After the Terminal 3 was completed, all the other runways had to be closed so as to facilitate the expansions within these Terminals.
Since then there have been number of modifications which have been consuming a lot of money. These developments have been created so that the port can be able to accommodate larger jets which are being created recently. The final project which is being done on the airport is the Terminal 5. This is aimed at ensuring that there is reduced time consumption when dealing with passengers. The newly completed and opened Terminal 5 has also been noticed to be compatible with size of A380 Boeing. The site history has not been much complicated, but the advancement has been aimed at increasing and improving the operations within the London Heathrow Airport (Roger, 2008, p. 51).
Aims of the Project
Every project that has been initiated must have a driving aim behind it, and so it is with the Terminal 5 project at the Heathrow Airport. The airport is located in the western parts of London city. The major aim behind the Terminal 5 project was to increase access and operations in the airport (Brian, 2006, p. 51). This was realised after it was noted that there had been a number of problems and challenges that were being faced in driving and handling passengers in the airport. In the handling of the passengers, it had been noted that the earlier terminals were not able to handle the increasing numbers of passengers within the airport terminals. This brought up the idea to come up with a new terminal in ensuring efficiency in passenger handling.
Looking at the issues at hand, fortitude and patience were the two major virtues and aspects which were needed if there were to be effective handling of the passengers in the airport. Previously, it was noted that the approaching passengers and plane traffics were squeezing themselves into the smaller existing terminals which were not efficient (Roger, 2008, p. 61). There was therefore the need to come up with a complex Terminal 5 which would provide a through-way road tunnel. Such a tunnel would be effective in handling passenger traffic. The previously used terminals had been narrow and this made them clog with small human traffic. As the days went by, the airport increases its passenger entrance and this caused problems when it came to passenger handling. People would take several hours from the entry-points to the departure tunnel (Bernard, 2006, p. 25).
Looking at all these issues, there was the need to come up with another airport terminal at the southern parts of the airport. During such views, the decisions arrived for the Terminal 5 were to ensure that there was fairness that all the people would be able to access the Heathrow Airport from all the directions, be it from west, east, south or even north of London. Since then, there have been other developments which have followed the Terminal 5 project. In order to improve efficiency in the way transportation and passenger links were being handled, it would be necessary to come up with better structures within the airport (Roger, 2008, p. 59). That way, the need for the Terminal 5 was something inevitable if the Heathrow Airport would be able to cope with all the increasing traffic flows within the last eight years. Such a project would be able to increase passenger handling, and thereby increasing the number of flights handled in the port. The Terminal 5 was a project which was aimed at giving the Gateway in Global Aviation. This project has been able to make the airport a major player cargo and passenger handling, thereby making it an inarguable success (Brian, 2006, p. 52).
Parties involved and Different Aspects of Civil Engineering Applied
There are a number of parties involved in the successful completion of the Terminal 5 project. For instance, Mott MacDonald, a key expert, had been appointed by the owning company, BAA. Mott MacDonald had been appointed to provide integration of the system, and also give assurance services for the systems (Roger, 2008, p. 67). This would be useful in providing the projects framework. Such a framework would integrate some rail systems of infrastructure. This would bring about a key development in the Terminal 5. Mott MacDonald implemented and delivered the main framework which would be applied in the construction of the Terminal 5 Rails and the Tunnels.
Other parties apart from the owner company and Mott MacDonald, which were involved, included the suppliers within some industries such as the railways, Network Rail, and the LU. Because of environmental issues which would occur from the project, it was necessary to incorporate a player in addressing such issues. WSP was the appropriate company. The WSP Group came up with ways of developing and managing major Environmental Management Systems, EMS. These systems would be useful in designing the environmental work and also ensuring that the projects construction phases were kept in check (Roger, 2008, p. 71). This would be aligned to the requirements of the owner company and the government.
There were also a number of engineering aspects that were applied with the Terminal 5 Project. During the project period, there was the incorporation of the major mathematical calculations and natural theories and science. This was done by carrying out a feasibility study which would give the viability of the project and the projected outcome. In the Terminal 5 project, all the civil engineering aspects were put into consideration for instance, all the topographical preparation maps were created, the location was mapped, then a design was created. After that, there was the analysis of the tunnels which were to be constructed, the roads and even the pathways. Civil engineering was hence applied in focusing at the overall infrastructure of the project, the water works and movements, sewers and their management, the power supply and the railroads technology (Brian, 2006, p. 52). This single fact makes civil engineering the major field which provides the necessary aspects for all mega-structures and their construction around the world.
Elements and Sub-elements of the project
Heathrows Terminal 5 had a number of elements and sub-elements. The project cost UK about 4.3 billion in its construction. The terminal has been set to handle over 30 million travelers in a year, thus representing the culmination of about 20 years of hard work. This was build as a set of transforming the face in modern travel and management of projects. The output was to transform the countrys flying experience to millions of the customers passing through the Heathrow Airport each year. The new terminal was designed perfectly to combine all functionalities and aesthetics which would make all feel comfortable. In addition, some special considerations have also been linked with the transport terminal, address on environmental issues and the maintainability of the environment (Brian, 2006, p. 57). For the majority, the experience would thus be much faster, simpler and simple due to this visionary approach that was taken by the project planners towards the Terminal 5 development, its management, and construction. There was the need to have funds and personnel training in order to have the success of the terminal construction
It has also been predicted that the new Terminal will be key in unlocking the transformation of the entire Heathrow airport as a whole. Now, the BAAs assessment has been seeing the infrastructure to have the capacity of holding between 45-52 million passengers in a year. With about 68 million people going through the terminal, it wont be surprising that this airport is still under some stress. Having put about 30 million capacity in this terminal, there is also the need to move all the airlines around the Heathrow in order to create space of doing a number of some things in improving operations in the airport. Generally, these are the major elements of input-output within the Terminal 5 at Heathrow Airport. My rationale is that the project was a good idea and still it would be necessary to come up with another design of solving the problems being faced at the airport today.
Consideration of Feedback Loops
People have been continuing to in fly in large numbers, therefore better ground and land transportation will still be a necessity. As London city readies to have a record of travelers for the 2012 Olympic Games, Heathrow airport should install a personal form of rapid transit in all the paths which can take an individual from the terminal 5 to the parking garage as dedicated on the pathways. Heathrows pod-cars have been designed like horizontal form of elevators which need no driver, just pushing a button (Bernard, 2006, p. 60). This form of an innovative system will form part of the BAAs plan in transforming Heathrow, improving the passengers experiences and reducing environmental impacts due to the operations by developing a cutting edge, which promotes green transport and similar solutions. The Heathrow terminals are scheduled to begin running within the spring of 2010 thus expanding to over 18 pod-cars having 3 stops in every 2.4 mile path.
Human Demands and Impacts of the Project
There are a number of human demands that have been raised from the project. There were concerns that the plan would result in excessive expenditures in the country. Majority of the opponents were concerned about the impacts that may be imposed on the environment because many argued that the project would result in noise pollution, air quality would also be compromised and also damping wastes into the rivers (Brian, 2006, p. 61). The planners and advisers behind the project argued that the impacts which would be brought about by the project would not be enough or grand so that the project would have to be terminated. Therefore they demanded to be given a go-ahead for the project.
There were arguments that the project would bring about economic growth in the country. This would be a positive impact once the project would be adopted. Also, experts proposed that the project would be necessary in proving job opportunities to a number of people in the country, and hence bringing about better living conditions and economic growth (Brian, 2006, p. 66). The other benefit would be in expanding the airport so that it would be able to provide enough capacity which would meet the growing passenger handling in the airport. There were projections that the economy as well as trade operations would benefit from such a project. The other impact would be on transport. The terminal would be the major centre for having a world-class interchange in transport. This would be due to the rail systems and rail links.
The irony here was that the environmentalists believed that this would compromise environmental issues (Bernard, 2006, p. 61). Looking at the environment, the site on which the terminal is currently situated displaced a number of wildlife as well as plant species, which had been technically relocated. There was also the issue of noise and climate issues that were voiced by the people. The airport therefore came up with a report which tried to convince the people that the project did not bring about such negative effects as they really thought.
Looking at this Terminal 5 project keenly, it will be concluded that it was a good design which would be effective in improving the operations at the London Heathrow Airport. During the construction of the project, all the major aspects of engineering were applied, and the project was also able to solve some of the environmental issues that arose during the period. There were a number of players who ensured that everything was done in the right way and therefore was not compromised. This was necessary because it ensured that this project did not at all result in the destruction of the ecosystem or the natural habitats within the environment. This project was therefore a great success because it produced a number of benefits to the Heathrow Airport and to the people as well.
Looking at the past information recorded in the airport operations, there are over thirty-five million travelers who pass through the Terminal, and their time spent between check-in until the departure gate has been reduced to about an average of eleven minutes or even less (Brian, 2006, p. 36).The project behind the creation of the Terminal 5 was to ensure that there was no much time wasted by passengers during bookings, check-ins and departure. The Terminal has been erected on a very small area which is equivalent to Hyde Park in London. This means that it has been able to utilise some space for a big engineering project. Looking at the Terminals main building, it measures an equivalence of fifty football pitches, and each is ten for every floor (Brian, 2006, p. 42). There has also been the creation of luxurious bathrooms within the Terminal these have been furnished using different shower panels.
Terminal 5- Heathrow Airport Project Site History
Aviation is the major practice on which the history of the project is based on. Looking at history, the development of this project must have began somewhere during the World War I (Bernard, 2006, p. 15). The site was used by the British military for airfield operations during the war. By the end of that decade, this airfield was given the name the Great West Aerodrome. The Aerodrome was owned privately by the Fairey Aviation Company, FAC. This company used the place as an aircraft assembly centre, and also for carrying out tests on planes and crafts (Roger, 2008, p. 47). Since then there have been a number of developments which later resulted in the present Heathrow Airport Terminal 5.
Later in the 1960s, about 160acres Terminal for cargo handling was constructed. This was constructed in such a way that it combined to the southern Terminals 1 and 2. This connection was achieved through digging a tunnel (Roger, 2008, p. 41). Between that period and the 1990s, the third Terminal had to be expanded so that it could be able to handle the increasing number of arrivals in the airport. There were more and more facilities that continued to be added, and some was the construction of pathways and exit paths. The Heathrow Airport was able to have two extra runways, the 09R-27L and 09L-27R, which had to be extended to the already existing lengths. This would be useful in ensuring that the airport could accommodate any new increase in jets and even for the big jets such as the Boeing 747 (Bernard, 2006, p. 19). After the Terminal 3 was completed, all the other runways had to be closed so as to facilitate the expansions within these Terminals.
Since then there have been number of modifications which have been consuming a lot of money. These developments have been created so that the port can be able to accommodate larger jets which are being created recently. The final project which is being done on the airport is the Terminal 5. This is aimed at ensuring that there is reduced time consumption when dealing with passengers. The newly completed and opened Terminal 5 has also been noticed to be compatible with size of A380 Boeing. The site history has not been much complicated, but the advancement has been aimed at increasing and improving the operations within the London Heathrow Airport (Roger, 2008, p. 51).
Aims of the Project
Every project that has been initiated must have a driving aim behind it, and so it is with the Terminal 5 project at the Heathrow Airport. The airport is located in the western parts of London city. The major aim behind the Terminal 5 project was to increase access and operations in the airport (Brian, 2006, p. 51). This was realised after it was noted that there had been a number of problems and challenges that were being faced in driving and handling passengers in the airport. In the handling of the passengers, it had been noted that the earlier terminals were not able to handle the increasing numbers of passengers within the airport terminals. This brought up the idea to come up with a new terminal in ensuring efficiency in passenger handling.
Looking at the issues at hand, fortitude and patience were the two major virtues and aspects which were needed if there were to be effective handling of the passengers in the airport. Previously, it was noted that the approaching passengers and plane traffics were squeezing themselves into the smaller existing terminals which were not efficient (Roger, 2008, p. 61). There was therefore the need to come up with a complex Terminal 5 which would provide a through-way road tunnel. Such a tunnel would be effective in handling passenger traffic. The previously used terminals had been narrow and this made them clog with small human traffic. As the days went by, the airport increases its passenger entrance and this caused problems when it came to passenger handling. People would take several hours from the entry-points to the departure tunnel (Bernard, 2006, p. 25).
Looking at all these issues, there was the need to come up with another airport terminal at the southern parts of the airport. During such views, the decisions arrived for the Terminal 5 were to ensure that there was fairness that all the people would be able to access the Heathrow Airport from all the directions, be it from west, east, south or even north of London. Since then, there have been other developments which have followed the Terminal 5 project. In order to improve efficiency in the way transportation and passenger links were being handled, it would be necessary to come up with better structures within the airport (Roger, 2008, p. 59). That way, the need for the Terminal 5 was something inevitable if the Heathrow Airport would be able to cope with all the increasing traffic flows within the last eight years. Such a project would be able to increase passenger handling, and thereby increasing the number of flights handled in the port. The Terminal 5 was a project which was aimed at giving the Gateway in Global Aviation. This project has been able to make the airport a major player cargo and passenger handling, thereby making it an inarguable success (Brian, 2006, p. 52).
Parties involved and Different Aspects of Civil Engineering Applied
There are a number of parties involved in the successful completion of the Terminal 5 project. For instance, Mott MacDonald, a key expert, had been appointed by the owning company, BAA. Mott MacDonald had been appointed to provide integration of the system, and also give assurance services for the systems (Roger, 2008, p. 67). This would be useful in providing the projects framework. Such a framework would integrate some rail systems of infrastructure. This would bring about a key development in the Terminal 5. Mott MacDonald implemented and delivered the main framework which would be applied in the construction of the Terminal 5 Rails and the Tunnels.
Other parties apart from the owner company and Mott MacDonald, which were involved, included the suppliers within some industries such as the railways, Network Rail, and the LU. Because of environmental issues which would occur from the project, it was necessary to incorporate a player in addressing such issues. WSP was the appropriate company. The WSP Group came up with ways of developing and managing major Environmental Management Systems, EMS. These systems would be useful in designing the environmental work and also ensuring that the projects construction phases were kept in check (Roger, 2008, p. 71). This would be aligned to the requirements of the owner company and the government.
There were also a number of engineering aspects that were applied with the Terminal 5 Project. During the project period, there was the incorporation of the major mathematical calculations and natural theories and science. This was done by carrying out a feasibility study which would give the viability of the project and the projected outcome. In the Terminal 5 project, all the civil engineering aspects were put into consideration for instance, all the topographical preparation maps were created, the location was mapped, then a design was created. After that, there was the analysis of the tunnels which were to be constructed, the roads and even the pathways. Civil engineering was hence applied in focusing at the overall infrastructure of the project, the water works and movements, sewers and their management, the power supply and the railroads technology (Brian, 2006, p. 52). This single fact makes civil engineering the major field which provides the necessary aspects for all mega-structures and their construction around the world.
Elements and Sub-elements of the project
Heathrows Terminal 5 had a number of elements and sub-elements. The project cost UK about 4.3 billion in its construction. The terminal has been set to handle over 30 million travelers in a year, thus representing the culmination of about 20 years of hard work. This was build as a set of transforming the face in modern travel and management of projects. The output was to transform the countrys flying experience to millions of the customers passing through the Heathrow Airport each year. The new terminal was designed perfectly to combine all functionalities and aesthetics which would make all feel comfortable. In addition, some special considerations have also been linked with the transport terminal, address on environmental issues and the maintainability of the environment (Brian, 2006, p. 57). For the majority, the experience would thus be much faster, simpler and simple due to this visionary approach that was taken by the project planners towards the Terminal 5 development, its management, and construction. There was the need to have funds and personnel training in order to have the success of the terminal construction
It has also been predicted that the new Terminal will be key in unlocking the transformation of the entire Heathrow airport as a whole. Now, the BAAs assessment has been seeing the infrastructure to have the capacity of holding between 45-52 million passengers in a year. With about 68 million people going through the terminal, it wont be surprising that this airport is still under some stress. Having put about 30 million capacity in this terminal, there is also the need to move all the airlines around the Heathrow in order to create space of doing a number of some things in improving operations in the airport. Generally, these are the major elements of input-output within the Terminal 5 at Heathrow Airport. My rationale is that the project was a good idea and still it would be necessary to come up with another design of solving the problems being faced at the airport today.
Consideration of Feedback Loops
People have been continuing to in fly in large numbers, therefore better ground and land transportation will still be a necessity. As London city readies to have a record of travelers for the 2012 Olympic Games, Heathrow airport should install a personal form of rapid transit in all the paths which can take an individual from the terminal 5 to the parking garage as dedicated on the pathways. Heathrows pod-cars have been designed like horizontal form of elevators which need no driver, just pushing a button (Bernard, 2006, p. 60). This form of an innovative system will form part of the BAAs plan in transforming Heathrow, improving the passengers experiences and reducing environmental impacts due to the operations by developing a cutting edge, which promotes green transport and similar solutions. The Heathrow terminals are scheduled to begin running within the spring of 2010 thus expanding to over 18 pod-cars having 3 stops in every 2.4 mile path.
Human Demands and Impacts of the Project
There are a number of human demands that have been raised from the project. There were concerns that the plan would result in excessive expenditures in the country. Majority of the opponents were concerned about the impacts that may be imposed on the environment because many argued that the project would result in noise pollution, air quality would also be compromised and also damping wastes into the rivers (Brian, 2006, p. 61). The planners and advisers behind the project argued that the impacts which would be brought about by the project would not be enough or grand so that the project would have to be terminated. Therefore they demanded to be given a go-ahead for the project.
There were arguments that the project would bring about economic growth in the country. This would be a positive impact once the project would be adopted. Also, experts proposed that the project would be necessary in proving job opportunities to a number of people in the country, and hence bringing about better living conditions and economic growth (Brian, 2006, p. 66). The other benefit would be in expanding the airport so that it would be able to provide enough capacity which would meet the growing passenger handling in the airport. There were projections that the economy as well as trade operations would benefit from such a project. The other impact would be on transport. The terminal would be the major centre for having a world-class interchange in transport. This would be due to the rail systems and rail links.
The irony here was that the environmentalists believed that this would compromise environmental issues (Bernard, 2006, p. 61). Looking at the environment, the site on which the terminal is currently situated displaced a number of wildlife as well as plant species, which had been technically relocated. There was also the issue of noise and climate issues that were voiced by the people. The airport therefore came up with a report which tried to convince the people that the project did not bring about such negative effects as they really thought.
Looking at this Terminal 5 project keenly, it will be concluded that it was a good design which would be effective in improving the operations at the London Heathrow Airport. During the construction of the project, all the major aspects of engineering were applied, and the project was also able to solve some of the environmental issues that arose during the period. There were a number of players who ensured that everything was done in the right way and therefore was not compromised. This was necessary because it ensured that this project did not at all result in the destruction of the ecosystem or the natural habitats within the environment. This project was therefore a great success because it produced a number of benefits to the Heathrow Airport and to the people as well.
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