Project: Gardermoen Airport de-icing tanks
Client: Avinor
System manfacturer: Tata Steel Byggsystem Sverige AB
Partner: Midroc
Tata Steel products: TRP 30W trapezoidal profile using Colorcoat Prisma®.
Colours: Orion Matt

Gardermoen is Norway’s largest airport and was inaugurated in 1998 with a capacity of 17 million travellers a year. By 2001, the number of passengers had increased to 21 million and the need for expansion was clear, so a new terminal and pier were built to double the airport’s capacity.

In a cold and harsh climate there is a high probability that aircrafts will be covered in snow, frost or ice and need to be de-iced before flight. At most airports, a liquid containing glycol is used for this purpose, this is also true at Gardermoen in Oslo. So with the increase in the airport’s capacity came the need for more de-icing facilities, and two more storage tanks were built to contain the glycol.

The challenge

In connection with the airport expansion, steps were also taken by Avinor (the state owned company that operates Gardermoen Airport) to ensure that airplanes were de-iced as quickly and efficiently as possible. This required increased storage capacity of the glycol mixture and it was decided that two tanks would be needed to hold the liquid. The tanks would need to meet Norwegian safety standards and environmental requirements such as them being free of chromium.

The solution

Two new tanks, each containing 4000 cubic metres of glycol mixture have been built at Gardermoen Airport. Measuring 12 metres high, the two storage tanks were erected by Midroc using Colorcoat Prisma® by Tata Steel.

Tata Steel’s Colorcoat Prisma® was chosen because it meets the stringent environmental requirements of the client requiring the product to be chrome free as well as having long-term durability which is a pre-requisite for the harsh winter weather in Norway and the jet fuel contaminated air of the airport. The contemporary matt colour also complimented that of the terminal buildings.

The project was completed on schedule and both Midroc and Avinor were delighted with the end result.