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RAF WADDINGTON RUNWAY REBUILD
A major project to rebuild the runway at RAF Waddington is scheduled to begin in September 2014 to address the structural problems and surface issues which affect the existing runway. Opened as a flying station in 1916 RAF Waddington is now the operating base for 6 flying Squadrons operating 5 different aircraft types. With the last major works being carried out on the runway in the mid 1990’s it is now, as anticipated, nearing the end of its serviceable life and consequently it is no longer viable to attempt to repair the existing surface. The rebuild project will commence mid-September 2014 and continue for a period of 59 weeks. Conducted in 3 phases the existing runway will be dug up section by section, the contours levelled and the surface relayed. As RAF Waddington is a live operational airfield, interim measures will be taken to ensure that there is no impact on current or future operations. This will be done by temporarily re-locating 4 aircraft types and a small number of supporting personnel to alternative RAF bases; those being RAFC Cranwell, RAF Coningsby and RAF Mildenhall. The aircraft affected by the temporary relocation will return to RAF Waddington once the rebuild has been completed in November 2015. I hope that the information contained in this document will help to answer any questions that you may have. Group Captain Rich Barrow - Station Commander RAF Waddington
COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT BOLTHOLE / RUNWAY
REFURBISHMENT
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Which aircraft types are re-locating and to where? 5 (AC) Squadron operate the Sentinel R1 aircraft. They will temporarily relocate to RAFC Cranwell. From a fleet of 5 aircraft it is anticipated that no more than 4 aircraft will be operating from RAF Cranwell at any one time. The remainder of the fleet will continue to operate from overseas airbases in support of operations and/or undergo scheduled maintenance elsewhere. 8 Squadron operate the Sentry E-3D aircraft. They will temporarily relocate to RAF Coningsby. From a fleet of 6 aircraft it is anticipated that no more than 3 aircraft will be operating from RAF Coningsby at any one time. The remainder of the fleet are scheduled to undergo routine depth maintenance at RAF Waddington or will be participating in trials or exercise support. 14 Squadron operate the Shadow R1 aircraft. They will temporarily relocate to RAFC Cranwell. From a fleet of 6 aircraft it is anticipated that no more than 5 aircraft will be operating from RAFC Cranwell at any one time. The remainder of the fleet will continue to operate from overseas airbases in support of operations and/or undergo scheduled maintenance elsewhere. 51 Squadron has taken delivery of the first of 3 aircraft the Boeing RC-135V/W Rivet Joint system. Currently deployed the Boeing RC-135V/W Rivet Joint system will if necessary; temporarily relocate to RAF Mildenhall, where USAF Rivet Joints also operates. 13 Squadron who operate the Reaper MQ-9 a remotely piloted aerial system will continue to fly their operations from RAF Waddington as the runway rebuild has no direct impact on the Squadron’s operations. Why have RAFC Cranwell and RAF Coningsby been selected as the preferred bases for the temporary relocation? By keeping the majority of our aircraft in the County it means that many of the supporting core functions such as flight planning and personnel support can continue at RAF Waddington. This means that there is very little impact to normal business on the majority of RAF Waddington personnel. Also this option causes the least amount of disruption to operations at RAFC Cranwell and
RAF Coningsby. Will there be an increase in personnel transiting in and out of RAFC Cranwell and RAF Coningsby? The majority of RAF Waddington’s business is conducted by non flying personnel therefore almost all Station personnel will remain at RAF Waddington. Only a small number of Station personnel will relocate to the temporary operating bases. We anticipate that 50 support personnel will travel daily to RAF Coningsby to support Sentry flying operations with an additional 18-36 aircrew flying sorties from RAF Coningsby. There will be up to 60 support personnel travelling daily to RAFC Cranwell to support Sentinel R1 and Shadow R1 flying operations with an additional 3 – 5 aircrew per sortie flying from RAFC Cranwell. When will the aircraft begin flying from RAFC Cranwell and RAF Coningsby? It is anticipated that aircraft will relocate to their temporary operating bases one or two weeks prior to the works commencing and will continue to operate from these locations until work is completed on the runway at RAF Waddington. Works are scheduled to complete November 2015. How often will the aircraft be flying from their temporary operating bases? This is difficult to predict as it will depend on what the operational tempo is at the time. The majority of aircraft movements will occur Monday to Friday during daylight hours and will be limited to take off and landing but there will be occasions when it is necessary to conduct circuit training in the local ar-ea. In these instances every effort will be made to avoid direct over flight of the local village/s. All aircraft will fly in accordance with the current RAF Cranwell or RAF Coningsby operating procedures. On occasion it will be necessary to conduct night flying. Night sorties are essential to all aircrew but particularly the flight deck crew as they ensure that they have the opportunity to hone their skills in a night time environment when there are different visual references and inputs from the more routine daytime events. This continued practice helps to maintain the safety of the crews and the aircraft. We endeavour to maximise the number of personnel on these trips in an attempt to minimise the number of sorties required.
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Will there be any flying activity at RAF Waddington during the period of rebuild? Yes. The RAF Waddington Flying Club which is equipped with 4 light aircraft will continue to operate as normal. The runway is over 9000ft long therefore the rebuild will be carried out in 3 phases with localised sections being dug up a section at a time. This will enable smaller aircraft to operate quite safely and as normal as they require far less runway to take off and land than the larger aircraft such as the E-3D. The rebuild will have no impact on the operations of the Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire Air Ambulance therefore they will continue to operate as normal throughout. Will there be an increase in traffic in and around Waddington Village and Bracebridge Heath? The majority of construction traffic will access RAF Waddington via a single dedicated access point located at Barn Farm. On occasion a limited amount of traffic will have to enter the base via the Transmitter Gate entrance but we anticipate little or no disruption to the communities along the transport route. Who delivers the contract? The contract is delivered by the Defence Infrastructure Organisation the MOD’s property and service provider. Who has been awarded the contract for carrying out the works? Carillion Construction Limited. How much is the contract worth? Approximately £35 million. Will the works create dust and noise? Every effort will be made to keep dust and noise to a minimum. Robust control systems will routinely be used to reduce dust emissions. Weather patterns will be closely observed to enable preventative action to be taken at the earliest opportunity and water sprays used to wet the offending material so that less dust is
generated. Due to the size of the airfield it is hoped that any significant noise will dissipate before it becomes noticeable to local residents. Will the contractors be working weekends? The project is scheduled to begin mid-September 2014 and take 59 weeks to complete. The majority of works will be carried out Monday through to Friday between the hours of 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. Every effort will be made to avoid working outside of these hours but in the event of inclement weather or if the project appears to be significantly delayed for any reason there may be cause to continue works over the weekend period. What happens to the waste? The project team have set out to improve environmental performance associated with runway resurfacing works which historically produce large amounts of waste materials. The solution is to recycle a large proportion of the old runway materials by using it as hardcore for the new one. This provides a significant reduction in road haulage miles and eliminates the requirement to dispose of this type of waste material to landfill. Because the aim is to have only minimal waste transported from the site for disposal, the overall costs of resurfacing the runway and the associated CO2 emissions will be reduced. The small amount of remaining waste will be recycled ethically and responsibly. How long will it be before the runway will need to be resurfaced again? This rebuild is a long term solution so there should be no need for any further significant runway works for another 25 years. What plans are in place for the 2015 Air Show at RAF Waddington? Because of the runway repairs at RAF Waddington there will be no RAF Waddington Air Show in 2015. The future provision of RAF public Air Shows is currently under consideration by the Air Force Board Standing Committee. Who do I contact for further information? If you require any further information please do not hesitate to contact RAF Waddington by e-mailing
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RAF Waddington RAF Waddington website: www.raf.mod.uk/rafwaddington
Facebook: www.facebook.com/RAFWaddington
Contact Us at: [email protected]
Defence Infrastructure Organisation
DIO website:www.gov.uk/dio Twitter: @mod_dio Read DIO’s blog: https://insidedio.blog.gov.uk/ DIO: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/defence-infrastructure-organisation NGEC programme: https://www.gov.uk/next-generation-estate-contracts NGEC Capital Works Frameworks: https://www.gov.uk/next-generation-estate-contracts#regional-and
national-capital-works-frameworks-procurement
