COLAS SOLUTIONS UPGRADES HUGHENDEN AIRPORT

Hughenden is a small town in the outback located halfway between Townsville and Mount Isa in Northwest Queensland. It is a popular destination for tourists seeking to explore the dinosaur trail.

However, the sleepy town had a problem in that they were experiencing an increase in flights and their airport runway, taxiways, and aprons were in poor condition. The Town Council knew that they had to act fast as they didn’t want to take any chances with the safety of their travelers and flights.

The Councillors wanted the most cost-effective and environmentally friendly high-quality treatment without having to close the airport for more than a few days. They had no experience in airport runway upgrades, so they called on the help of COLAS Solutions. So, a team of engineers and contractors visited the airport to assess the situation and to create a plan to remediate the existing surfacing.

The airport was shut down temporarily from the 19th to the 23rd April to carry out the works, which included:

• Spraying over 100,000 liters of Crumb Rubber Bitumen
• Spreading and rolling over 600 tonnes of precoated aggregates
• Blending and spraying over 70,000 liters of Seal Coat
• Surveying the entire runway and marking it with airport-grade paint.

After 5 days the airport was returned to service to the delight of the local Council. They realized that investing in their airport was one of the wisest choices that they had ever made. The upgrades to the runway had been a massive success and everyone was proud of the outcome. In the end, the upgrade had been worth every penny. The team at COLAS Solutions had done an excellent job!