Andimba Toivo ya Toivo Airport (formerly known as Ondangwa Airport)
Revitalising Ondangwa Airport | Rehabilitation of terminal building, runway and pavement
Ondangwa is one of the oldest historic towns in the North Central Region of Namibia, situated on the main road to and from the North. With the Airport and train station to the north of the town, Ondangwa caters for shopping and other vital services for more than half of the population of Oshana and Oshikoto regions.
Andimba Toivo ya Toivo Airport (formerly known as Ondangwa Airport) is located approximately 4km north of the city centre. The new airport building was completed in 2015 and is an impressive facility incorporating all the technological advances required in a modern terminal. The refurbishment came as a result of the increased traffic demand.
To capitalise on the booming tourism and commercial air traffic, Namibian Airports Company (NAC) commissioned Zutari to assess the airport and upgrade necessary for Ondangwa to comply with relevant International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) standards.
The deteriorating condition of the 2.9-km-long runway necessitated rehabilitation, which was carried out in 2 phases. Phase 1 was construction work that involved rehabilitating the pavement and widening the runway from 30m to 45m. A stormwater management system was redesigned to direct stormwater from the runway pavement. Turn pads were installed at both ends of the runaway, enabling large aircraft like the Airbus A319 to manoeuvre through 180 degrees.
Phase 2 of the project involved upgrading and rehabilitating the apron pavement and link taxiway. It included upgrading the runway to instrument non-precision standards by installing simple approach lighting to complement the published approach procedures. The Airbus A319/A320/A321 family and the Boeing 737 family are part of the 12 aircraft accommodated in the provided parking bays of the refurbishment.
The refurbishment now accommodates 12 aircraft, including the Airbus A319/A320/A321 family and the Boeing 737 family
The runway was upgraded using the LEDFAA design program and a high-order design to achieve a 20-year design life
The rehabilitation project aimed for a 20-year design life, which was a high-quality design suitable for the pavement structure of major international airports with accurate traffic forecasts.
To design the rehabilitated pavement, the LEDFAA design program was utilised. The program takes aircraft design, thickness, and strength as input, expressed in elastic moduli. The new pavement layers were constructed by combining the existing asphalt and calcrete gravel with imported crushed stone.
The upgrade involved milling out the existing surfacing and base and adding a 50mm layer of imported crushed stone. The imported crushed stone was reworked with the current asphalt surfacing and calcrete base to create a new emulsion-stabilised subbase. The base was then treated with a 65mm thick asphalt or bitumen, and finally, a 45mm thick asphalt surfacing was added with the correct grading to satisfy runway friction requirements.
Andimba Toivo ya Toivo Airport now takes pride as a full international airport, it is an up-to-date facility incorporating technological advances required in a modern terminal building. Fitted with facilities for VIPs as well as efficient, safe circulation of the staff and the public.
*The Aurecon Africa business has been officially renamed Zutari as at 21 July 2020. Zutari acquired Aurecon Middle East on 20 November 2020.
