DOTC taps group to evaluate NAIA-1 rehab design

MANILA, Philippines - The Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) has tapped international consultants Arup & Partners to evaluate the design for P1.16-billion rehabilitation of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 1 (NAIA-1), DOTC Secretary Jose Emilio Abaya said yesterday.

Arup’s major projects include the Sydney Opera House, Beijing Capital International Airport Terminal 3, Jetblue Terminal 5 and the Heathrow Personal Rapid Transit System, among others.

The retrofitting and structural rehabilitation is in order to make the country’s gateway conform to 2010 National Structural Code of the Philippines. The structural design would be done by Philippine-based firm P-Square.

Abaya said Arup was tapped by the DOTC after the Department of Public Works and Highways admitted that it does not have the expertise to approve and certify performance-based design. He said the DOTC opted for the performance-based design instead of the code-based design so as not to disrupt the operations at the NAIA-1.

“First of all it will not shut down the operations in the Terminal 1. We will rehabilitate NAIA-1 without the decrease in the operation or the complete shutdown. Second, it will be done in a shorter period of time and next is probably at a little less cost,” he stressed.

Abaya said officials agreed to use an independent consultant to verify P-Square’s design, and it will take Arup a month to judge whether it is acceptable.

The DOTC chief pointed out that the retrofitting and rehabilitation of the international airport would be completed within the next 18 to 20 months.

A travel website, Sleeping in Airports, named NAIA-1 as Asia’s worst airport this year and the world’s worst airport in 2011.