It is another feather in the cap for the Cochin international airport. In its silver jubilee year, the recarpeting of the 3,400-metre long runway of the airport at Nedumbassery is nearing completion under a 27-member women team.
A seven-women team led by assistant general managers, civil, Ushadevi T.P. and Mini Jacob, supported by over 20 women apprentice engineers, has shown that women are not behind in taking up the challenge, demonstrating expertise for the upgrade of infrastructure to enhance the travel experience of flyers.
Six-to-seven-hour work
Since November 20, they are involved in relaying works lasting six to seven hours when the runway is closed for flight operations from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Braving the scorching sun, heat and dust, these women work amidst humongous trucks, pavers, millers, rollers, broomers, excavators, and compressors .
The relaying of the runway and the taxiway pavement of equal length happens in different layers. On the runway, a layer of dense bituminous macadam and dense asphaltic concrete with polymer modified bitumen is given.
Daily paving area for runway pavement varies from 6,750 sq m to 8,550 sq m and the gross bitumen mix used is 1,200-1,600 tonnes.
Planning helps
“This was a challenge for us and we executed it through planning and execution. Perhaps, this may be the first time women are involved to such an extent in the re-carpeting of the runway in an airport. Women have shown that they can handle tough civil engineering assignments,” says Ushadevi.
“In the silver jubilee of the airport it is a matter of pride that the key project of re-carpeting involving adherence to time schedule, stringent quality control, and the highest technical specifications is being implemented by a team of women. More than 3,000 of the 12,000 people working within the airport premises are women,” says CIAL managing director, V.J. Kurian. About 90% of recarpeting of the runway, which commenced on November 20, was over and the work may be completed by March 28 ahead of the summer schedule.
