AIR TRANSPORT

AIR TRANSPORT
 BCE-60 AIRPORT,DOCKS &
UNIT 1 HARBOUR ENGINEERING
Introduction, Air characteristics and airport selection: Air transport development in India, national
and international organization in air transport, aircraft characteristics and their impact on planning
of airport, selection of site for airport, airport obstruction, imaginary surfaces, runway orientation,
calm period and wind coverage.
UNIT 2
Geometric designs: Runway and taxiway geometric designs, exit taxiway, its design and fillet
curves, runway configuration, separation clearance, design of aprons and their layouts.
Airport Traffic Control Aids: Visual aids, marking and lightning of runway and apron area, wind an
landing direction indicator.
UNIT 3
Planning and layout of Docks and Harbour: Harbour planning principles, terminology, layout of a
harbour, classification of Harbour Docks: Classification of Docks, transit sheds and Warehouses.
UNIT-IV
Construction and Maintenanceof Docks and Harbours:Introduction, Construction of Quay walls,
Construction of Breakwaters, Tides and Tidal data analysis, types of Tydes, Tidal theories,Tidal
data analysis, Application of Tidal data analysis, Dredging, Maintenance of ports and harbours
Unit- II-Airport Planning and Design

By
Dr. A. K. Mishra
Associate Professor, Civil Engineering Department
MMMUT Gorakhpur-273010
 Some Basic Definitions:
1. Aircraft: “Any machine which finds its support in the atmosphere due
to reactions of the air is defined as an Aircraft”.
It is a general term which includes aero-plane, helicopter, rocket, etc. It may be
lighter or heavier than air.
a) subsonic aircraft- Aircraft speed is less than the speed of sound
b) supersonic aircraft- Aircraft speed is greater than the speed of sound.

2. Aerodrome: Any defined area on land or water intended to be used for

the arrival and departure of an aircraft is called aerodrome.

3. Airport: It is an aerodrome which is principally intended for the use of

commercial services. It is provided with custom facilities. If it service any
international traffic. i.e if it is designed as an international airport. When an
airport does not serve international traffic, it is known as non-international
or domestic airport.
4. Airfield: it is an area which is used for landing and take-off of an aircraft.
5) Landing area: An airport consists of landing area and terminal area.
Landing area is used for landing & take-off of an aircraft.
1) Runway
2) Taxiway
6)Terminal area: It includes the following
a) Terminal building
b)Aircraft apron
c) Gate position
d)Hangars (Shelters)
e) Automobile parking area

7)Runway: It is paved long & narrow rectangular strip which is actually used
for landing & take-off of aero-planes.

8)Taxiway: It is a paved way over which an aero-plane may taxi while going
to & from runway and loading apron. Taxiways also connect two
neighboring runway, runway with a service and maintenance hangar.
Components of An Airport Layout
1.Runway
2.Terminal Building
3.Apron
4.Taxiway
5.Aircraft Stand
6.Hanger
7.Control Tower
8.Parking
1. Runways
A runway is the area where an
aircraft lands or takes off. It can be
grass, or packed dirt, or a hard
surface such as asphalt or concrete.
Runways have special markings on
them to help a pilot in the air to tell
that it is a runway (and not a road)
and to help them when they are
landing or taking off. Runway
markings are white.
2. Terminal Buildings
Also known as airport terminal, these buildings are the
spaces where passengers board or alight from flights.
These buildings house all the necessary facilities for
passengers to check-in their luggage, clear the
customs and have lounges to wait before
disembarking. The terminals can house cafes,
lounges and bars to serve as waiting areas for
passengers. Ticket counters, luggage check-in
transfer, security checks and customs are the basics or
of all airport terminals. Large airports can have more
than one terminal that are connected to one another
through link ways such as walkways, sky-bridges or
trams. Smaller airports usually have only one terminal
that houses all the required facilities.
3. Aprons
Aircraft aprons are the areas
where the aircraft park. Aprons
are also sometimes called
ramps. They vary in size, from
areas that may hold five or ten
small planes, to the very large
areas that the major airports
have. .
4. Taxiway

A taxiway is a path on an airport connecting runways with

ramps, hangars, terminals and other facilities. They mostly have
hard surface such as asphalt or concrete, although smaller
airports sometimes use gravel or grass.

5. Aircraft Stand

A portion of an apron designated as a taxiway and intended to

provide access to aircraft stands only.
5. Aircraft Stand

A portion of an apron designated as a taxiway and intended

to provide access to aircraft stands only.
7. Control Tower
A tower at an airfield from which air traffic is controlled by
radio and observed physically and by radar.

8. Parking
Parking is a specific area of airport at which vehicles
park
Airport Layout
 Aircraft Characteristics
Aircraft characteristics are of prime importance to the
airport planning and design. The following characteristics
need to be studied.

Type of Propulsion (pistonengine, jet

engine and ram engine)
Size of aircraft
Minimum turning radius
Minimum circling radius
 Speed of aircraft
 Capacity of aircraft
 Aircraft weight & wheel configuration
 Jet Blast
 Fuel Spillage
 Type of Propulsion:
 The size of aircraft, its circling radius, speed characteristics,
weight carrying capacity, noise nuisance etc. depend upon the
type of propulsion of the aircraft.
the basic runway length also depends on the type of propulsion
used in aircraft.

 Size of aircraft:
 The Size of aircraft involves following important dimensions,
(i) wing span (ii) height (iii) distance b/w
main gears i.e. gear tread (iv) wheel base & tail width.
Minimum Turning radius:
 In order to decide the radius of taxiway, its very
essential to study the geometry of turning movement
of aircraft.
Minimum Turning radius:
•While taking a turn, the nose gear is steered and therefore,
makes an angle with the axis of the main gear, called angle of
rotation. The point of intersection of main gear and line
through axis of steered nose gear is called point of rotation.
•The maximum angle of rotation is 5060 - ‫◦ﹾ‬
•The line joining the center of rotation and the tip of the
farthest wing of the aircraft is known minimum turning radius
  Minimum Circling Radius:
 There is certain minimum radius with which the aircraft can
take turn in space.
 Its radius depends upon the type of
aircraft, air traffic volume & weather conditions.
The radii recommended for different types of aircraft are as
follows.
Small general aviation aircraft = 1.6 km
Bigger aircraft = 3.2 km
Piston engine aircraft = 13 km
Jet engine aircraft = 80 km
  Speed of Aircrafts:
 The speed of aircraft can be defined in two ways. i.e. Cruising
speed or air speed.
Cruising speed is the speed of aircrafts
with respect to the ground, when the aircrafts is
flying in air at its maximum speed.
Air speed is the speed of aircraft relative to the wind.
 If the aircraft is flying at a speed of 500 kmph & there is a
head wind of 50 kmph, air speed will be 450 kmph.

Aircraft capacity:
 The number of passengers, baggage
& fuel that can be accommodated in
the aircrafts depends upon the capacity
of
aircraft.

 Weight of aircraft & wheel configuration:

 Speed of Aircrafts
 Jet Blast:
This is the blast that comes out of the jet engine at the rear
of the aircraft and provides the force movement of the aircraft.
But, if we consider it in case where the aircraft is standing
and the jet blast is coming from the rear, that is so hot and it
creates a severe condition for the things on which it will be
falling.
So the severity is going to depend on two things; one is the

•height of the tail pipe from the round

•angle of the tail pipe through which this jet blast will be
coming out at the tail end.
So if it is in the upward direction then it will go up if it is in the
downward direction it will create a pro effect on the pavement
on which the aircraft is standing and therefore there is a need
to erect the blast fences which can control the damage to the
building or damage to the pavement.
Fuel spillage:
 At loading aprons & shelter it is difficult to avoid
spillage completely, but effort should be made to bring it
within minimum limit.
 The flexible pavements are seriously affected by the fuel
spillage.
 Air Transport Agencies
 International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO)

 Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)

 Airport Authority of India.

 Air India International Corporation.

 Indian Airlines Corporation.

 Private Air Transport Agencies, Jet

Airways, Sahara Airways.

 Airport Classification
1) Based on Take-off & Landing
Conventional Take off & Landing Airport
 Runway length > 1500 m
Reduced Take-Off & Landing Airport
 Runway length 1000 to 1500 m
Short Take-Off & Landing Airport
 Runway length 500 to 1000 m
Vertical Take-Off & Landing Airport
 Operational area 25 to 50 sq.m
2) ICAO Classification: Based on Geometric Design
 The classification has been done by using code letters viz.
A to E in which the A type of airport has the longest runway
length and E type has the shortest length.
 The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO)

• The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) serves

as an agency through which the necessary international
understanding and agreement between nations in all the
technical, economical and legal issues and codifies the
principles and techniques of international air navigation
and fosters the planning and development of
international air transport to ensure safe and orderly
growth.
• It was created in1944 and it became a special UN agency
in1947. It has membership of 151 countries.
• ICAO is headquartered at Montreal in Canada and is
headed by a Secretary General
• It has 7 regional offices at 1) Paris 2) Mexico city 3)
Bangkok 4) Cairo 5) Dakar 6) Lima 7) Nairobi
International Air Transport Association (IATA)

• The International Air Transport Association (IATA) is

a trade association of the world’s airlines with a
membership of 250 major carriers in the world. They
carry approximately 84% of total available seat
kilometers of air traffic. 
• IATA supports airline activity and helps formulate
industry policy and standards.
• It is headquartered in Montreal, Canada with Executive
Office at Geneva in Switzerland.
 Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)
• The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is the national aviation
authority of the United States.
• An agency of the United States Department of Transportation, it has
authority to regulate and oversee all aspects of American civil aviation.
Functions of FAA include:
1. Regulating U.S. commercial space transportation
2. Regulating air navigation facilities' geometry and  flight inspection
standards
3. Encouraging and developing civil aeronautics, including new aviation
technology
4. Issuing, suspending, or revoking pilot certificates
5. Researching and developing the National Airspace System and civil
aeronautics
6. Developing and carrying out programs to control aircraft noise and
other environmental effects of civil aviation
 Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA)

• Directorate of Civil Aviation (DCA) was set up in 1927.

Subsequently it was upgraded as Director General of Civil Aviation
(DGCA) in 1945)
• The functions of DGCA are
1. Regulatory functions such as airworthiness of aircraft, licensing of
personal, investigation of incidents/accidents, bilateral matters,
approval of tariffs/schedules etc.
2. Administering the domestic airports other than 4 international
airports run by IAAI
3. Providing navigation/communication facilities and air traffic
services
4. Functions 2 and 3 are transferred to NAA subsequently formed.
International Airports Authority of India (IAAI)
(not existing now)

• International Airports Authority of India (IAAI)

(set up in April, 1972) to plan, develop,
construct and maintain 4 airports at Bombay,
Calcutta, Madras and New Delhi
• Manages these 4 international airports
• Finally merged with NAA to form AAI on 1st
April, 1995.
 National Airports Authority (NAA)
(not existing now)

1. National Airports Authority (NAA) was established on June

1, 1986 by carving out DGCA for managing domestic
Airports
2. Functions 2 and 3 of DGCA are transferred to NAA
3. NAA is finally merged with IAAI to form Airports Authority
of India on 1st April, 1995.
 Airports Authority of India (AAI)

• Airports Authority of India (AAI) is formed on 1st

April 1995 by merging IAAI and NAA for
operating and managing a total of 115 Airports,
including 11 International Airports, 8 Customs
Airports, 81 Domestic Airports and 25 Civil
enclaves at Military Airfields.
 Types of Airports

• There are three types of Airports

1. International Airports
2. Domestic Airports
3. Regional Airports
 International Airports

• An international airport has direct service to many other

airports.
• Handle scheduled commercial airlines both for passengers
and cargo.
• Many international airports also serve as "HUBS", or places
where non-direct flights may land and passengers switch
planes.
• Typically equipped with customs and immigration facilities
to handle international flights to and from other countries.
• Such airports are usually larger, and often feature longer
runways and facilities to accommodate the large aircraft.
(FBO, MRO etc..)
 Airport Classification
ICAO Classification: Based on Length of
Code No
Runway.
Basic Runway Length (L) in meter
1 <800
2 800 m up to but not including 1200 m
3 1200 m up to but not including 1800 m

4 1800 m & over

FAA Classification: Based on Aircraft Approach Speed.

Approach Category Approach Speed Knots ( 1 knots = 1.9
km/hr)
A < 91
B 91 - 120
C 121 - 140

D 141 - 165
E 165 or greater
 Airport Classification
Based on Function.
Civil Aviation: International & Domestic
Military Aviation

 Classification Based on Pavement Strength

Code Single Isolated Wheel Wheel Pressure kg/m2
Load in kg
1 45360 8.4
2 34020 7.0
3 27220 7.0
4 20410 7.0
5 13610 6.0
6 6800 4.90
7 2270 2.90
 Airport Site Selection
Factors
Regional plan
Airport use
Proximity to other airports
Ground accessibility
Topography
Obstructions
Visibility
Wind
Noise Nuisance
Grading, drainage and soil ch a ract er is t i cs
Future development
Availability of utilities from town
Economic considerations
 Survey for site selection
1.Traffic survey
2.Meteorological survey:
Direction ,duration and intensity of
wind.
3.Topographical Survey: To prepare
contour maps showing natural
festures,trees,streams, pole lines,
buildings, roads etc.
4.Soil survey
5.Drainage survey
 Runway O r i e n t a t i o n
 The orientation of a runway depends upon the direction of
wind & to some extent on the area available for development.

Runway are always orientated in the direction of

prevailing
wind.

Determination of a runway orientation is a critical task in the

planning & design of an airport.
The direction of the runway controls the layout of the other
airport facilities, such as passengers
terminals, taxiways/apron
configurations, circulation roads & parking facilities.
 Cross wind
 It is not possible to obtain the direction of wind along the direction of the
centre line of runway throughout the year, On some day of the year or hour
of the day, the wind may blow making certain angle with the centre line of
runway.
If the direction of wind is at an angle to the runway will be Vcos α & that
normal to the runway centre line will be Vsin α where V is the wind velocity.
The normal component of the wind is called cross wind components

The maximum permissible cross wind component

It depends upon the size of the aircraft and the wind configuration.
FAA - 15 kmph for small aircrafts
- 25 kmph for mixed traffic ICAO – 35 kmph for big aircrafts
 WindCoverage Wind coverage or usability factor of

airport is the percentage of time in a year during which the cross

wind component remains within the limits as specified above is wind
coverage.

 Calm Period: This is the period for which the wind intensity
remains below 6.4 km/hr.
This is common to all direction
& hence can be added to
wind coverage for that direction. Calm period =
100 – Total wind coverage
 Wind Rose Diagram
The wind data i.e direction, duration & intensity
are graphically represented by a diagram called wind rose
diagram.
Application of Wind Rose diagram is
for finding the orientation of the runway to
achieve wind coverage.
The area is divided in to 16 parts using an angle of
22.50 .
 Average wind data of 5 to 10 years
is used for preparing wind rose diagram.
 Wind Rose –
Type – I: Showing direction & duration of wind.
Type –II: Showing direction, duration & intensity of wind.
Type – I : Showing direction & duration of wind.
The radial lines indicate the wind direction and each circle represents
the duration of wind.
From the wind data it is observed that the total % of time in a year
during which the wind blows from north direction is 10.3%.
This value is plotted along the north direction in figure.
Similarly other values are also plotted along the respective directions.
All plotted points are then joined by straight lines.
The best direction of runway usually along the direction of the longest
line on wind rose diagram.
In the figure the best orientation of runway is NS direction.
Type –II ;Showing direction, duration & intensity of wind
Each circle represents the wind intensity to some scale. The values entered in
each segment represents the % of time in a year during which the wind having
a particular intensity.
Procedure: draw 3 equi-spaced parallel lines on a transparent paper strip.
Place the transport paper strip over the wind rose diagram in such a way
that the central line passes through the centre of the diagram.
With the centre of wind rose, rotate the tracing paper & place it in suc h
c
position that the sum of all the values indicating the duration of wind, within
the two outer parallel lines, oriented is the maximum.
The runway should be thus oriented along the direction indicated by the
centre line. The wind coverage can be calculated by summing up all the %
shown in segment.
Read the bearing of the runway on the outer scale of the wind rose where
 Types of Markings

There are 6 types of Airport Markings

1.Runway Marking
2.Taxiway Marking
3.Shoulder Marking
4.Apron Markings
5.Landing Direction Indicator
6.Wind Direction Indicator
 Runway Markings
• Following markings are made on the runways

1. Runway centre-line marking

2. Runway edge stripes
3. Touch down zone marking
4. Threshold marking
5. Displaced threshold marking
6. Runway numbering
7. Two or more parallel runways
 Runway centre-line marking
• It is represented by a broken line along the
entire length as shown in figure.
• Its width is 90 cm.
 Runway edge stripes

• The runway edge stripes are normally marked.

• But when the runway width exceeds 45 m, the side

stripes in the form of long continuous lines 90 cm
wide may be marked near the edges as shown in
figure.
Runway Markings
 Touch Down Zone Marking

• The runway touch down zone or landing zone

is indicated by a series of stripes arranged
symmetrically about the centre-line with their
number decreasing gradually in the direction
of landing as shown in figure.
 Threshold Marking

• The runway threshold is indicated by a series of

parallel lines starting from a distance of 6 m from the
runway end.

• The threshold markings are in the form of stripes 3.6

m wide spaced at 0.9 m clear and placed
symmetrically on either side of the runway centre-
line.
Runway Threshold Marking
 Runway numbering

• The end of each runway is marked with a number which

indicates the magnetic azimuth (i.e. the angle measured in a
clockwise direction from the north of the runway in the
direction of landing).

• Thus the east end of an east-west runway would be marked

27 (for 270o) and the west end 9 (for 90o)
Runway Numbering
 Two or More Parallel Runways
• When there are more than one runway in the same direction,
the following letters are added to the azimuth numbers.

Two parallel runways - L, R

Three parallel runways - L, C, R
 Taxiway Marking
• A single continuous 15 cm yellow stripe is used to mark the
centre line of the taxiway.
• At the intersections of the taxiways with the runway ends, the
centre line of the taxiway is terminated at the edge of the
runway.
• All other intersections of the taxiways with runways, the
centre line of the taxiway is extended to the centre line of the
runway.
• A holding line marking is painted at all the intersections of the
paved taxiways with runways.
• At the taxiway intersection, the centre line markings of the
taxiway continue through the intersection area.