Design, material supply, on-site casting, and construction of Reinforced Earth® wall structures for Philippines’ Cebu Airport

Background

Terre Armée and Freyssinet joined forces for the construction of Terminal 2 at Mactan-Cebu airport, the second-largest airport in the Philippines. Located 800 km south of Manila, the capital of the Philippines, in the city of Cebu, a growing tourist destination, Terminal 2 was inaugurated in July 2018. Launched in 2015, the project aimed to sustainably cope with the steadily increasing number of passengers, from 4.5 million currently to 12.5 million annually, and increase the number of international flights.

In charge of the works, MGCJV, the joint venture between GMR Infrastructure Ltd. of India, and one of the major Philippine constructors, Megawide Construction Corp. (MCC) chose Freyssinet and Terre Armée to take part in the works. Started in 2017, the missions included the design work of MSE wall structures, the supply of the moulds, materials and accessories, the casting of panels at site and the erection of the walls.

Solution

Freyssinet and Reinforced Earth worked together to offer the Owner an alternative solution to build the Terminal 2 elevated approach road. Reinforced Earth® technology was preferred to initial traditional cast-in-situ retaining walls. A total of seven MSE walls structures were built, as well as a true abutment (link to bridge abutment solution section) that will remain in history as the very first of its kind in the Philippines. The retaining walls, either single or tiered, support the access ramps, providing solutions to complex situations such as restricted right-of-way, unstable natural slopes, marginal foundationconditions and large settlements. Freyssinet and Terre Armée worked together to offer the owner an alternative solution to build the Terminal 2 elevated approach road. The Reinforced Earth® technology was adopted after a suggested design change. Reinforced Earth® precast MSE walls proved to be a more cost-effective and efficient alternative to the proposed cast in-situ retaining walls. In addition, some value engineering was done to bring additional savings in time and money to the Client. For example, atraditional Aashto girders span structure was eventually built with Reinforced Earth® wall structure using 2,160 m² of MSE walls and reaching a maximum height of 8 meters.