In 2016, Colas was appointed by Main Contractor Galliford Try as specialist surfacing contractor as part of a project to recondition the 2.9km 09-27 runway at East Midlands Airport, operated by the Manchester Airport Group (MAG). The surfacing works were undertaken by Colas during day and night shifts across five consecutive weekend closures of the runway. The project marked the first time that a UK commercial airport had implemented full shutdowns across multiple weekends to allow large volumes of surfacing to be carried out.
Colas removed the existing asphalt pavement and resurfaced the runway and taxiway tie-ins with a new high-quality AC 14 ungrooved Béton Bitumineux pour chaussées Aéronautiques (BBA) surface course and a BBA binder course.
