Design for new London Gatwick taxiway to help reduce delays and emissions

AtkinsRéalis has been working with London Gatwick, part of VINCI Airports’ network, to deliver an infrastructure project to help reduce delays and go-arounds, as well as supporting the airport’s sustainability targets.

London Gatwick’s new Rapid Exit Taxiway, which is now in use, enables arriving aircraft to leave the runway more efficiently, increasing resilience, reducing delays and limiting carbon and noise emissions.

The challenge

Previously, some aircraft would narrowly miss the first taxiway to exit the runway, for example if they landed later than anticipated, weather conditions made braking more challenging, or they were flying with a heavier load than normal.

This would result in the aircraft travelling slowly along the runway to the next taxiway exit, which could take an extra 20 seconds or more due to the distance. 

New runway under construction

Our approach

AtkinsRéalis worked with the airport and other partners to optimise the design which included geometric and structural pavement design, drainage and airfield ground lighting design, plus all the ancillaries around existing services, earthworks etc. 

Our work on the design resulted in a 45mm (6%) reduction in pavement thickness and a 1,300m² (11%) reduction in pavement area, both of which led to associated reductions in embodied carbon and helped cut construction emissions by more than 10%. 

We identified and implemented a modified drainage design solution that significantly increased buildability in a highly constrained operational environment.

A key element of our approach was to host weekly design progress meetings in our Epsom office which were attened by the London Gatwick project team, and PJ Hegarty’s (the contractor’s) team. 

These sessions helped to make the design review process more efficient and effective as we could quickly develop design solutions and review progress or quality matters. It also helped to foster a collaborative environment which aided swift issue resolution that spanned the entire project duration.

AtkinsRéalis engineers on site at Gatwick

Positive outcomes

 Construction initially began in 2020 but following a pause to the initiative during the height of Covid-19, the project was reviewed, resulting in a redesign reducing construction carbon emissions from the original plan by more than 10% - the equivalent of a petrol car driving more than 1.3million miles.

By achieving a more efficient exit, the airport’s runway will perform more consistently, supporting all pilots but particularly those who are less familiar with London Gatwick. More pilots are now able to take the first exit, and if they miss the first exit then the time to the second exit is much lower, meaning they are less likely to impact other aircraft. 

Air Traffic Controllers can therefore be more confident in the performance of landing aircraft, reducing delays, the likelihood of go-arounds, and holding times for aircraft waiting to depart – all helping to limit emissions and noise.  

Rapid Exit Taxiway under construction at Gatwick

Gareth Vest, market director for Aviation at AtkinsRéalis: 

 “This project plays a key role in enabling the operators of London Gatwick to meet its sustainability targets by reducing aircraft emissions. It is also another good example of how we are working in partnership with the airport to deliver on key infrastructure to meet the future needs of the airport, and sector.” 

Gavin Sillitto, Transformation Programme Lead, London Gatwick: 

 “Every project where you are building next to a live runway is complex, but we have a great result thanks to fantastic teamwork across the airport and with our contractor, PJ Hegarty. 

“For aircraft exiting the runway, it is like the speed of turning onto a motorway slip road rather than onto a suburban street. Putting an exit in a place which is natural for how pilots normally brake, that can handle aircraft exiting safely at higher speeds, increasing resilience, reducing delays and limiting carbon and noise emissions.”  

Andrew Isted, Senior Project Manager, London Gatwick: 

 “As this project was paused during Covid, we used the period prior to restarting to undertake a Value Engineering phase to rationalise and optimise the design. Carried out alongside AtkinsRéalis and PJ Hegarty, we targeted areas where we believed the greatest gains could be achieved. We challenged our standards, constraints and reviewed geometrical requirements.  

“This generated significant savings in pavement thickness and area, drainage requirements and existing pavement breakout, to name a few. We were delighted to complete the project with no impact to or complaints from the local community, with our contractors operating carefully and safely, and often at night, in a busy operational environment.”