YVR East Apron VI Remote Stands

2020 Canadian Consulting Engineering Awards

Airbus A321s parked on the new remote stands to cater for unprecedented traic growth | Copyright: Derek MacPherson

2 | CCE Awards, YVR - East Apron VI Remote Stands

Higher-than-anticipated growth

in passenger traic at Vancouver

International Airport resulted in the

need to expedite the transborder

facility expansion. With the cost

and timeline of new or expanded

buildings exceeding targets, a more

economically viable solution was

proposed, at almost a fih of the

cost per aircra stand. Innovative

engineering principles were used to

minimize earthworks, safeguard the

local environment, and accelerate

construction; allowing Hatch to

deliver the project within two years

and under budget.

New narrow-body remote stand providing the airport with a much-needed increase in aircra capacity

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Innovation

Vancouver International Airport (YVR) has experienced

significant strain on its facilities over the past several years

from unprecedented growth in passenger numbers, more

flights, and new airlines entering the market. With growth

far exceeding forecasts, a solution was urgently needed to

handle the expected traic. By working together with YVR

stakeholders, Hatch developed a fast-track solution during

the planning stage – a new remote apron, completed within

two years, providing ten AGN IIIb (i.e. Airbus A320), two AGN V

(i.e. Boeing B777), and one AGN IV (i.e. Boeing B767) aircra

stands.

Delivering a major airfield project in two years that provides

a new concept of operations for YVR was a significant

challenge with continually changing and developing

stakeholder requirements. In some cases, requirements

were either not clearly associated with or even more

stringent than published aerodrome standards, which led

to significant changes throughout design and construction.

Nevertheless, Hatch provided a safe and sustainable design

for the public while still meeting the requirements of the

Owner.

One of the most important time- and cost-saving decisions

made by Hatch was to reuse and recycle the existing

in-situ asphalt pavement structure as a subbase layer.

This significantly minimized the need for excavation and

hauling of material osite, leading to major cost, time, and

environmental benefits. Existing asphalt at the airport owned

long-term parking was milled and le in place, and the apron

was raised to ensure enough depth for a suitable pavement

structure and utility network for aircra loading and apron

operations.

The new raised apron structure was supported by a

lockblock retaining wall using mainly salvaged blocks from

existing structures. The design and construction of the

lockblock retaining wall minimized disposals and need

of new processed materials, and hence cost and time,

compared to a conventional retaining wall structure.

Another important aspect that greatly benefited the overall

project schedule was the wet- and cold-weather paving

performed during the winter construction period. Most

paving work at YVR is performed during the summer months

to ensure the best quality of work is delivered. With the

fast-track schedule of this project, a suitable winter weather

paving methodology was put in place to ensure that identical

paving work was delivered within the specifications expected

by the Airport Authority. Following the methodology

prepared by Hatch, almost four-hundred concrete slabs for

the wide-body stands were poured during the winter months

without aecting the integrity and performance of the

pavement.

Winter weather paving in sub-zero temperatures to meet the fast-

tracked project delivery schedule

Concrete paving for the new wide-body stands with minimal

disruption to active taxiways and aircra gates

4 | CCE Awards, YVR - East Apron VI Remote Stands

Complexity

Delivering a major airfield project within two years with

minimal eect on airside operations and aircra capacity,

and without airfield closures, is almost an impossible task

on its own. Hatch worked closely with sub-consultants,

contractors, suppliers, and stakeholders over the two-year

period to ensure that the project was delivered on schedule

and within budget, and that all requirements were met.

Splitting the work into dierent packages allowed

construction to begin much earlier in the schedule,

providing Hatch more time to design and coordinate critical

components of the project while work was proceeding

on site. This included the new closed-pipe drainage

infrastructure and the optimization of the new apron in

terms of staging areas, service equipment, and pavement

design. With aviation related work being strictly regulated by

federal authorities, every component had to be thoroughly

checked against local Transport Canada and international

regulations.

Phasing the construction ensured minimal disruption of

airside operations over the duration of the project, even

with record traic numbers being achieved every quarter.

One of the packages, for example, was phased into seven

dierent work areas. Hatch was also able to ensure that

airport planners and schedulers had the necessary aircra

parking capacity they needed on the airfield to support the

unprecedented growth, even while reconfiguring the existing

Apron VI. This was challenging for the consultants and

contractors as all work areas had to abide by the very strict

aircra clearance requirements set by Transport Canada

regulations, significantly limiting the available work space

and access during construction.

Remote Aircra Servicing at the New Narrow-body Stands

Replacing a critical ditch system with a closed network, twin-piped,

drainage network adjacent to an active airfield

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Social and/or Economic

Benefits

The East Apron VI Remote Stands project was brought by the

immediate need for additional aircra capacity to support

unprecedented passenger traic growth at YVR. This increase

is also a product of the significant economic and social

growth witnessed over the past few years in Metro Vancouver,

with more people and businesses moving into the region.

With the addition of new capacity at YVR, the airport will be

able to provide more flights and destinations to the public,

furnishing the community with greater flexibility and more

choice.

The initial plan was to construct a brand new transborder

pier at the airport to meet the forecasted traic demand.

However, with the budget and schedule of the new building

exceeding the set targets, a more economically viable

solution was proposed and accepted. The new remote

stands were not only completed within two years (as

opposed to at least five years for the new pier), but at only

a fih of the cost per aircra stand. Further to this, the new

remote stands now provide the airport with much higher

transborder capacity.

Providing immediate additional capacity at a crucial port-

of-entry such as YVR has a direct impact on the economic

and social development of the region. With more frequent

flight connections to important American and international

cities, and other new destinations, the ability of communities

and industries in the local and wider Pacific Northwest area

to expand and create jobs is much more attainable in a

convenient and aordable manner.

Increased capacity and traic from new remote stands will benefit regional economic growth | Copyright: Vancouver Airport Authority -

Social Media

6 | CCE Awards, YVR - East Apron VI Remote Stands

Environmental Benefits

Even though the remote stands are an interim solution, the

layout, pavement design, and infrastructure systems ensure

the apron can be converted and integrated for future projects

with minimal eort.

Surface grading and drainage were optimized to capture all

surface water within the new drainage system, eliminating

water runo and waste. All the captured water passes

through oil-water separators before entering the wider

public system to ensure no harmful contamination (such as

jet fuel) is transferred into the local environment. With the

replacement of a critical ditch with a closed-pipe system

and the accompanying reduced water storage capacity, a

system-wide flood analysis of the YVR drainage network was

performed with positive results.

Earthworks were optimized for a positive material balance,

minimizing the need to haul material on and o site. Material

hauled o site was tested for contamination and high metal

concentration prior to disposal, whereas all new material

was sourced locally. Furthermore, existing sand subbase

was reused for the new concrete pavement structure, the

Jetset parking lot asphalt was recycled as a subbase for the

new flexible pavement structure, and crushed concrete was

reused as a granular base fill.

Electrical buses were purchased by the Airport Authority to

handle all flights to minimize the carbon footprint of bussing

passengers to the remote stands. Ground service vehicle and

bus charging stations were also installed to move away from

fossil fuels and help the airport get closer to its sustainability

goal of running a fully electric fleet of airside vehicles.

Installation of oil-water separator to capture harmful contamination, such as jet fuel, from surface water before it enters the public

waterways

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Meeting Client’s Needs

Hatch worked closely with the YVR stakeholders to identify

possible interim solutions that would be cost- and time-

eicient for the airport expansion. These options ranged

from simple expansions of existing holdrooms to phased

construction plans of new buildings. The planning team

concluded that a dedicated remote apron would be the best

solution. To accommodate this plan, the airport would also

have to change their operational and security procedures,

and add new passenger holdrooms and bussing facilities. A

strategy which Hatch has helped implement as part of other

projects.

With the fast-track timeline to deliver the project and an

already-congested airfield, we selected the partly airport-

owned Jetset and rental car lots as the most suitable site

for the new remote apron. Even though this decision saved

significant time and cost on expropriating or clearing large

areas of land, it added significant scope to the project –

replacing a critical ditch system in YVR’s drainage network,

reconfiguring the Jetset and rental car facilities, and

relocating an entire rental agency to a brand new facility.

The location and layout of the apron was also chosen with

consideration to the YVR Master Plan and sustainability goals.

Despite major changes and challenges along the way, and

the seemingly impossible task of completing the required

work within just two years, the Client is quoted as saying:

“Thankfully my fears were not realized, we completed the

project on time and under budget – an achievement I

attribute a great deal of to the outstanding work of the Hatch

team.”

Remote servicing of a commercial Boeing 737 flight at a newly delivered stand. Passengers are transported to the aircra from the terminal

on fully electric buses.

8 | CCE Awards, YVR - East Apron VI Remote Stands

Boeing 767 at new wide-body remote stand

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