Witteveen+Bos inspects civil engineering structures for Brussels Airport Company

To ensure safety on and around Brussels Airport, it is essential to establish the state of the various existing civil engineering structures, both airside and landside. For this purpose, Brussels Airport outsourced the work to ensure that the inspection and associated levelling checks were properly conducted.

Initially, Witteveen+Bos advised on the state of the tunnels, viaducts, multi-storey car park and bus station. In Belgium, it is (still) not standard practice to perform interim inspections, assessments and monitoring of the general state of structures.

Based on an 'A inspection', in accordance with internal regulation LI 93/50 ‘Guidelines for managing civil engineering structures’ and CBI 2012, including levelling, we established the state and stability of these civil engineering structures.

We also performed a diagnosis of the concrete structure in the two tunnels. The focus of this study: identifying leaks as well as any corrosion of the armouring. This is based on a lifespan analysis according to CUR recommendation 121: 2018. We also performed a visual inspection of the road surfacing. This was based on the OCW Measuring Method MN 89/15" and specifically on and around the sites of Brussels Airport.

Witteveen+Bos combined the output of this study in a tender dossier with corresponding advice. With the insight into the risks and their impact on the lifespan of these civil engineering structures, Brussels Airport Company had everything it needed to draw up a concrete management and maintenance strategy. Using the results of the concrete diagnosis and the tender dossier, the company can choose a contractor to do the work.

Besides the basic contract, Brussels Airport Company also outsourced additional assignments to Witteveen+Bos. As a result, we are regularly involved in project work. We recently inspected 18 steel signage gantries.

In this project, our team of experts performed a close inspection of the steel structure and the bolted joints and checked their concrete foundations. Obviously, corrosion and/or instability can cause unsafe situations on site.

Witteveen+Bos is expert in asset management, inspections and residual lifespan. To meet the expectations of our client, we based our advice on the following pillars:

• An in-depth analysis of the technical plans on the site
• Defining various principles to be able to perform checks during the inspection and studies
• Identifying the risks per civil engineering structure
• Providing meticulous sketches of the problem zones

With this information, we provide Brussels Airport Company with the necessary insights into any issues. The company can use this information to instruct the maintenance service to address and optimise the situation on site.

Do you have any questions about this project? Or can our employees' expertise in similar fields help you achieve your safety objectives? Please feel free to contact us.