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Aviation History
1951
1951 - 1622.PDF
223 FLIGHT 24 August 1951 An impressive vista of t/ie permanent four-bay hangar now under construction at Heathrow to accommodate aircraft of B "WORK IN PROGRESS" Buildings and Traffic-ways take Shape for the "New Era" London Airp TO say that the pattern of the United Kingdom's majorinternational air terminal at London Airport is now "takingshape" is, perhaps, an understatement. Any major con- structional achievement of this kind can only, by its very nature, be regarded as "progressive"j and it therefore tends to miss pub- licity of the sort which such a gigantic engineering enterprise merits. During a recent visit to London Airport's "work in pro- gress" area, however, we were positively startled to see the advanced stage which has now been reached. The building of the main access-tunnel, which is to connect the Bath Road with the central terminal area, has been under way for some time and two of the subsidiary vehicular tunnels have already been completed. In the floor of the enormous pit which is being bulldozed out of the earth between the central "diamond" and the Bath Road (crossing No. 1 runway), a considerable length of the two 20-ft wide carriageways and the two cycle and pedes- trian paths is already concrete-surfaced. A roundabout at the northern end of the tunnel will eventually connect with two approach ramps from the east and west. The western ramp will be constructed first, while the other is to be added at a later date when the central area is in use and certain buildings in the temporary existing terminal area can be demol- ished. The tunnel system is designed to carry a peak flow of 2,000 vehicles per hour, excluding cycle traffic. In No. 1 Maintenance area, B.O.A.C.'s vast four-bay hangar, of cantilever steel construction, is well under way, the first of the main steel supporting arches being already in position. Each of the four bays will be 300 ft wide, 140 ft deep and 45 ft high, and will be capable of housing two aircraft of Stratocruiser propor- tions. Between the bays, multi-storey workshop, office and stores accommodation is incorporated in the overall design. The main units of B.E.A.'s new £2,000,000 maintenance base are also mak- ing good progress. The B.E.A. hangar block consists of two rows, each of five bays, separated by a central road. Workshops and offices are provided at the rear of each row and the main stores building is located at one end. The first three bays are expected to be ready by September. In the interim period while the first bays are being built, B.E.A. will probably move into part of the big aluminium-alloy hangar which was recently completed in the No. 2 maintenance area where, incidentally, a permanent single-bay steel hangar has been erected for P.A.W.A. Two of these subsidiary vehicular subways have already been finished. The building contract for B.EA's new maintenance hangar—seen in this recent photograph to have reached an advanced stage—was awarded to the winner of a competition among 20 contractors specializing in structural steel or reinforced concrete work. *&•• (Above) A considerable length of the floor for the main access tunnel is now virtually complete. The main portion of the tunnel, which will connect the Bath Road with the central terminal area, is 2,400ft long and 86ft wide. (Below) This three-bay hangar erected for B.O.A.C. is the largest of its type ever built in aluminium alloy.
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