The renovation of Norman PAC Kingston Airport Limited involved the participation of Viarium as part of a joint venture with Proyectos Mar Azul.
“The expansion of Norman Manley Airport is one of those projects that requires the integration of airport, maritime, and operational solutions within a single initiative”.
— Javier González Jadraque, head of the Viarium team in Jamaica.
How do you expand an airport when there is no more land available?
In Kingston, Jamaica, the solution involves creating new land over the sea.
Viarium Since December 2023, it has been participating in the expansion of Norman Manley International Airport (NMIA), a strategic infrastructure for the country, which will enable it to expand one of its main airport infrastructure projects by creating 344 meters of new land reclaimed from Kingston Bay—a solution that is unusual even among major international airport projects.
The project, led by PAC Kingston Airport Limited, a subsidiary of Grupo Aeroportuario del Pacífico (GAP), aims to expand the safety areas of Runway 12-30 and ensure the future development of a key infrastructure for Jamaica's air connectivity.
An airport that is expanding once again over the sea
What makes this project unique is that the airport itself was originally built on land reclaimed from the sea in 1959.
More than six decades later, Norman Manley International Airport is expanding once again, following the same construction principles, though in accordance with the technical, environmental, and operational standards required today by a airport infrastructure international.
To make this possible, a complex engineering project is underway that combines marine construction and airport infrastructure by building a perimeter dike and subsequently filling its interior with material obtained from controlled dredging in areas near the airport.
Currently, the project is moving more than 3,000 metric tons of material per day to advance construction of the perimeter dike that will create the new expansion area for the airport. In total, the project involves bringing in approximately 1,000,000 m³ of fill and first removing more than 300,000 m³ of unsuitable material from the seabed.
The Challenge of Building at an Operational Airport on the Waterfront
The complexity of the project goes far beyond the construction itself.
The construction work is taking place at a fully operational airport, in a coastal environment subject to demanding environmental and meteorological conditions, and requires constant coordination with numerous public agencies, regulatory authorities, and local entities.
In addition, the project had to adapt to the impact of Hurricane Melissa, a Category 5 storm, which disrupted the initial planning and forced a reorganization of some of the planned activities to ensure both the airport’s operational continuity and the safety of the project, including the airport operational safety and applicable environmental regulations.
Despite this, work is currently progressing at a good pace, and the team continues to make up for some of the delays incurred during the initial phases of the project.
Strategic Infrastructure for Jamaica
Beyond its technical aspects, the expansion of Norman Manley International Airport is of strategic importance to Jamaica.
As Kingston's main airport and one of the country's primary gateways, this facility plays a vital role in the island's air connectivity, economic activity, and tourism development.
This initiative will strengthen the capacity and resilience of an infrastructure that is key to the country's future growth, helping to improve the Jamaican capital's international connectivity and supporting the development of air transportation in the region.
360° Engagement by Viarium
Since the project began, Viarium has supported the client through the various stages of development, participating in the preparation of the documentation for bids, the hiring process, the supervision of the infrastructure design and planning, technical supervision of the construction work, and the international contract management below international standards.
According to Javier González Jadraque:
“The complexity of the project lies not only in expanding airport infrastructure, but also in doing so by creating new land over the sea, while keeping the airport operational and continually adapting the planning to very demanding environmental and meteorological conditions. It is a combination of challenges that is unusual even in international airport projects.”
The Viarium team, as part of a joint venture with the Panamanian company Proyectos Mar Azul, assumes technical responsibility for the consortium and actively participates in the coordination and supervision of a project that combines engineering, airport planning and design, marine engineering, operational safety, and the infrastructure management globally.
The expansion of Norman Manley International Airport thus strengthens Viarium's presence in the Caribbean and consolidates its expertise in complex infrastructure at the international level, where technical expertise, the ability to adapt to demanding environments, and multidisciplinary coordination are essential to the success of the project.
The Project in 4 Key Points
- 344 meters of new land reclaimed from the sea to enable the expansion of one of Jamaica's major airport infrastructure projects.
- More than six decades after it was built in 1959, The airport is expanding once again, following the same principle that led to the creation of the infrastructure in the first place: reclaiming land from the sea.
- The expansion will require approximately 1,000,000 m³ of fill and the prior removal of more than 300,000 m³ seabed material to make it possible to create the new airport runway.
- The operation is taking place at an active airport and has had to adapt to the impact of a Category 5 hurricane, one of the main challenges in project planning.
