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AECOM to Provide Site Supervision Services for Malaysia’s East Coast Rail Link Project

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AECOM, a premier, fully integrated global infrastructure firm, has been appointed by China Communications Construction Company to provide site supervision services for the stations, viaducts, tunnels and depots of the East Coast Rail Link (ECRL) project.

“AECOM is proud to be involved with this project, which is a tremendous game-changer for the economy of the East Coast of Peninsular Malaysia,” said Ailee Loh, Vice President, Transportation, AECOM Malaysia. “To deliver this large-scale project, we are tapping into our strong local and international experience in delivering transport infrastructure, particularly in the rail sector. We look forward to leveraging world-class innovative approaches on this complex project that will ultimately benefit all of Malaysia.”

“Such massive rail infrastructure will open up new opportunities for the people in the East Coast states by facilitating the creation of new jobs, stimulating industries and enhancing mobility, in tandem with the growth that is being driven by the East Coast Economic Region initiative,” said Patrick Wong, Country Director, AECOM Malaysia.

The ECRL project is part of the Malaysian government’s comprehensive transportation plan and will link Kuala Lumpur and Port Klang to the East Coast through a strategic railway network. It is envisaged to serve all the main hubs of the East Coast Region, traversing Kelantan, Terengganu, Pahang and parts of Selangor, and be connected to Malaysia’s main rail network by the time it is completed in 2024.

“This project is also a great opportunity to further grow local talent in this field and create rail industry leaders whose expertise are very much sought after globally,” said Mr. Billy Wong, Regional Executive, Southeast Asia.

AECOM and Pininfarina collaborate for winning design of new Istanbul airpot

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İGA has chosen an innovative design by AECOM and Pininfarina as the winner of an international design competition for the regional Air Traffic Control (ATC) tower and technical building at the Istanbul New Airport. Unusually, the winning entry marries influences from the aviation and automotive sectors, with strong architectural design.

The AECOM and Pininfarina collaboration was chosen from a total of six entries from international architectural teams, including Zaha Hadid, Fuksas, Moshe Safdie, Grimshaw-Nordic and RMJM. The win marks AECOM’s first collaboration with Pininfarina, the design house renowned for its car designs for Ferrari and Alfa Romeo, among others. The collaboration combines the expertise of AECOM’s architectural and engineering teams with Pininfarina’s distinctive architectural style that epitomises speed and movement, influenced by automotive design.

Yusuf Akçayoğlu, chief executive officer of İGA, said, “One of the world’s largest aviation projects, Istanbul New Airport’s air traffic control tower will be an iconic structure, visible to all passengers travelling through the airport. We were looking for a striking design fit for a 21st century airport while remaining sensitive to Istanbul’s unique heritage. We received excellent designs from all over the world and are delighted to announce the AECOM and Pininfarina team as the competition winner.”

The innovative design inspired by the tulip, a unique cultural symbol of Istanbul.

The innovative design inspired by the tulip, a unique cultural symbol of Istanbul.

The ATC will be the landmark for Istanbul New Airport, which is set to be the world’s largest new airport in terms of annual passenger capacity. The competition scope was to deliver the concept designs for the tower, showcasing contemporary sustainable architectural design that reflects the multi-cultural and historical characteristics of Istanbul city.

The AECOM and Pininfarina design evokes the aerodynamic forms used in automotive and aviation design, and includes an elliptical tower that will be visible to all passengers flying in and out of the new airport. The tower shape is inspired by the tulip, which has been the symbol of Istanbul for many centuries and is an important cultural reference in Turkish history.

Bernardo Gogna, senior vice president and director of global aviation, AECOM, said, “Our approach to this competition was to combine the expertise of a different design industry with AECOM’s in-house aviation architecture and engineering capabilities. Our goal was to bring Pininfarina’s values, which are grounded in tradition and craftsmanship, to the world of aviation. The result marries pure iconic beauty with true innovation.”

The design competition is the latest win for AECOM at Istanbul New Airport. Earlier this year it was appointed by İGA to deliver designs for all the airside works at the airport. The new airport will have an initial capacity of 90 million passengers per year. It will be located on the European side of the city, 35 kilometres from the centre on a site adjacent to the Black Sea. Subsequent planned phases will expand the airport to include six runways and three terminal buildings. When all phases are complete, the airport will have an annual capacity of up to 200 million passengers.

İGA is a consortium of five leading Turkish contractors comprising Cengiz, Mapa, Limak, Kolin and Kalyon. İGA was awarded the concession to build Istanbul New Airport as the engineering, procurement and construction contractor and will also be the operator. In October, İGA secured a €4.5 billion loan from a group of six banks for the first phase of the project.

AECOM opens the longest bridge in Southeast Asia

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Longest Bridge in Southeast Asia

KUALA LUMPUR (March 4, 2014) AECOM celebrates the official opening of Second Penang Bridge – the longest bridge in Southeast Asia

 AECOM has played a key role in partnering with the contractor to deliver an innovative structure designed to withstand the severe seismic stress of a once-every-2,500-year earthquake.

Second Penang Bridge is a 24-kilometer (14.9-mile) bridge linking the Penang Island and the Malaysia Peninsula and is the largest civil engineering project in the past 20 years in the region. It consists of precast segmental concrete marine viaducts in 55-meter (180-feet) span modules and a cast in-situ concrete cable-stayed bridge measuring 475 meters (1,558 feet).

AECOM’s team in Malaysia, together with engineers from the long-span and specialty bridges group, worked in the design, construction supervision, and construction engineering of this record-breaking project. A special aspect of the project involved applying intelligent construction engineering techniques to enable successful erection of the 240-meter (787-feet) main span cable-stayed bridge over the main navigation channel.

“The Second Penang Bridge is subject to the merciless forces of nature, such as earthquakes, potential tsunamis, and wind, to name a few; and is exposed to a hostile marine environment. These challenges were overcome through meticulous planning and design, and the result is one of the world’s largest sea-crossing projects in recent years,” said Dr. Robin Sham, AECOM’s global long-span and specialty bridges director. “We have helped accomplish an immense human endeavor; creating many innovations along the way.”

Pioneering Bridge Technology

In addition to its large size, this RM 4.5 billion project pioneered new construction methods to minimize the risk caused by seismic activity near the Sunda tectonic plate, including the use of 2-meter-diameter (6.5-foot-diameter) bored piles founded to a depth in excess of more than 120 meters (394 feet) for the cable-stayed bridge, and the use of high-damping rubber bearings for seismic isolation of the marine viaducts.

The whole sea-crossing project introduced numerous innovations, including intelligent bridge geometry control, a lightweight form traveler machine for cable-stayed bridge erection, the extensive use of the statnamic pile-loading testing method and the use of high-damping rubber bearings for seismic isolation. The project also saw the most extensive use of precast hollow concrete spun piles in bridgework, and substantial driven tubular steel piles in a marine environment.

This strategic new link can alleviate the overloaded traffic of the existing bridge and improve the overall connectivity between the city and the Penang International Airport, spurring the area’s economic growth.