Gold Coast Airport says it has completed laying the concrete foundations for a new hotel being built at the site, with the task taking place over two weekends in June.
Pouring 2,050 cubic metres of concrete in the middle of the Gold Coast Airport precinct for the foundations of the airport’s first hotel proved to be a major exercise in logistics during the first two Saturdays in June.
Queensland Airports Limited executive general manager, property and infrastructure Carl Bruhn said the most challenging part of the project was its location in the middle of a busy airport.
“Meticulous planning went into making sure the airport continued to run smoothly while a massive logistical exercise took place on its doorstep,” Bruhn said in a statement.
The 3,000 square metre concrete slab forms the foundations for a $50 million seven-storey, 192-room Rydges hotel with a rooftop bar and views over Kirra Beach and across the runway. It was expected to open in mid-2020.
It is being built by locally-based construction company, Condev, on behalf of developer, Trepang, a company associated with John Robinson and Nick Paspaley, who have developed hotels in Darwin, including two airport hotels.
The concrete pour involved more than 330 trucks brought in from Burleigh Heads and Chinderah, north and south of the site, to minimise the traffic impact on roads leading to the airport, Bruhn said.
About 100 workers were on site both weekends.
Queensland Airport is the owner and operator of Gold Coast, Longreach, Mount Isa and Townsville airports.
Gold Coast Airport handled 6.52 million passengers in calendar 2018, down marginally from 6.5 million in the prior year. The airport’s most recent master plan, which was approved in 2017, has forecast annual passenger numbers rising to 16.6 million by 2037.
In March, the airport said it has appointed Lend Lease to build a new three-level terminal located at the southern end of the current facility. The project was expected to be completed by mid-2021.
Source: australianaviation.com.au
