SAN FRANCISCO, January 17, (THEWILL) – Wolfgang Goetsch, Managing Director of Julius Berger, has declared that the runway of the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, can be repaired without closing the airport.
Speaking at the senate on Tuesday during a special session on the closure of the airport, Goetsch said the repairs can be carried out within the 6 weeks adding that the work could be achieved without suspending flight operations.
“The runways can be repaired and without closing but if it is spot repairs it could be worked on in the night and opened up temporarily in the morning,” Goetsch said.
“It can be shut down in the night. The spot can be repaired in the morning and temporarily given back for usage. But the state of the runway in Abuja, extent of damage and deterioration, the whole runway from one end to the other end is damaged.
“This means that if the method of spot repair is used, you start from one side of the runway, lock it in the night and in the morning to open it up for traffic.
“This means that the spot repair will take two and half years to keep the runway stable but the runway has to be monolithic needing interlocked layers to guarantee a life span of 10 years.
“It is in the interest of all stakeholders to ensure that the work on the runway was carried out as quickly as possible.
“On our end, we guarantee that within the 6 weeks, the repair work is done. This is subject to the fulfilment of the obligation of all stakeholders.
“Under the leadership of the minister of state for aviation, all stakeholders are on board. Everything is going on very smoothly according to plan and there is no doubt that the obligation of all stakeholders is fulfilled.”
THEWILL recalls that Hadi Sirika, Minister for State on Aviation, had announced that the federal government intended to close the airport for six weeks, starting from March 8 to enable repairs on the runway, with Kaduna airport being offered as an alternative during the period that of Abuja would be closed.
However, the call faced rejection from a number of Nigerians leading to the intervention by the Senate.
