International building firm Laing O'Rourke has won the contract to build the new Pier D facility at Dublin Airport, while design and engineering group Ove Arup is to become project manager for the second terminal.
Both contracts have been awarded by the Dublin Airport Authority in recent weeks. The value of the contracts were not disclosed, but they form part of a €1.2 billion capital investment programme for the airport which runs for the next decade.
Laing O'Rourke hopes to have Pier D built by the end of next year. The facility will provide 14 new boarding gates for narrow and wide bodied aircraft. The facility is different to a terminal building because it has no check-in desk capacity.
It is designed to provide additional departure gate space to the airport while planning continues on the second terminal.
Planning permission for the new pier has already been secured and site preparation work for the 15,000 square meter, two storey structure is expected to start within weeks.
The overall projected cost of Pier D will be in excess of €100 million. It will be situated on the northern edge of the airport.
Laing O'Rourke is a major international building firm, employing more than 23,000 people worldwide. Formed by the merger of Irish and UK firms five years ago, it specialises in the building of major transport infrastructure. For example it has been involved in constructing Terminal 5 at London Heathrow and has also done work at airports in Birmingham, Edinburgh and Dubai.
In Ireland it has done significant road building, including upgrading the Dublin-Naas carriageway.
The second terminal is among the biggest infrastructure projects in the country. It was given the go-ahead by the Government last summer and will be built on a site adjacent to the existing terminal.
The second terminal will be designed to handle up to 15 million passengers annually and will be able to handle short and long haul aircraft. It is scheduled to be completed in late 2009.
Ove Arup will lead a planning and design team for terminal 2. Also part of this team will be Pascall & Watson, a UK architecture firm and Mace, a project management consultancy.
Ove Arup employs more than 70,000 people at various worldwide locations. The company has designed some of the world's most well-known buildings, including the Sydney Opera House.
It is also doing work at Terminal 5 in London Heathrow. The company has also been hired to do design work on the new terminal at Beijing International Airport.
The Dublin Airport Authority has also decided to appoint Turner and Townsend, a Leeds-based construction and management consultancy firm to be programme managers for all the capital developments at the airport.
This company will ensure that deadlines are met and budgets adhered to. More than 120 projects will be funded under the airport's capital investment programme.
Declan Collier, chief executive of the Dublin Airport Authority, said the capital investment programme was probably one of the most complex in the history of the State.
"In that context, it is critical that the DAA's external partners in this challenging undertaking are of the highest international calibre."
We are delighted the competitive tender process for the contracts completed to date has provided us with such experienced high quality partners," Mr Collier said.
