This is an archive article published on April 7, 2022
SVPI airport gets drain to prevent runway flooding
The Ahmedabad based SVPI airport has been shut for operations from 9 am to 6 pm daily since January 17 for the airport management company to carry out re-carpeting work of its three and a half kilometer-long runway.
Runway re-carpeting work in progress at Sardar vallabhbhai Patel International Airport in Ahmedabad. Nirmal Harindran
To prevent flooding of the runway during monsoon season, the Ahmedabad based Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International (SVPI) airport, which is managed by the Adani Group, is building a nine kilometers long “storm water drain” line as part of its ongoing “structural overlay of runway” project.
“The two drainage lines being made parallel to each side of the runway will ensure that the water will not accumulate on the runway and ground. We are also in talks with the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation to ensure that the storm water drainage system is connected to Sabarmati river,” an official privy to the construction told the Indian Express.
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The Ahmedabad based SVPI airport has been shut for operations from 9 am to 6 pm daily since January 17 for the airport management company to carry out re-carpeting work of its three and a half kilometer-long runway. As per norms of the DGCA (Directorate General of Civil Aviation, all flights have been asked to operate only post 6 pm.
Taking a lesson out of the 2017 Gujarat floods which damaged the airport’s runway due to flooding, the airport management has now constructed a drainage system to prevent the waterlogging on the runway.
As part of their structural overlay of the runway project, the Airport authority has added as many as seven layers of asphalt, each 75 mm in thickness on the runway since the project started.
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“We have added almost 2 lakh metric tonnes of asphalt in the past 75 days. We have kept the middle portion of the runway on a slightly higher level to allow slopes for both sides,” the official added.
Runway re-carpeting work in progress at Sardar vallabhbhai Patel International Airport in Ahmedabad. Nirmal Harindran 
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