Background
As one of the busiest airports in the world, the San Francisco International Airport (SFO) is planning to expand and reconfigure its current runway system. Presently, the runways consist of two sets of parallel runways arranged in a crossing pattern. The purpose of the reconfiguration is to:

• Increase the separation between parallel runways,
• Move runways farther from populated areas

Those improvements would:

• Reduce flight delays by allowing parallel instrumented landings during low visibility and poor weather conditions,
• Accommodate the new larger aircraft, and
• Reduce noise to adjacent communities.

The project is particularly challenging, because the new runways are proposed to be constructed in the Bay where foundation soils are extremely soft and compressible.

Fugro's Role

Fugro as the managing partner of the ADEC joint venture with Moffatt & Nichol Engineers, Inc., was contracted to collect data and conduct engineering analyses to help evaluate and refine various runway alternatives. Initial alternative concepts included earthen, pile-supported, and floating platforms. Fugro's ongoing evaluation focuses on constructability, cost-effectiveness, and environmental impacts of the alternative concepts.

The Fugro/Moffatt & Nichol team is providing the following services:

• Airfield area geotechnical site characterization to define subsurface conditions both in the existing airfield area and in potential in bay expansion areas.
  
  
• Potential borrow area geotechnical site characterization to evaluate the volume and properties of the sand available at a number of potential borrow sites.
  
  
• GIS database development to manage, analyze, and display the data.
  
  
• Civil, structural, and geotechnical engineering studies to develop feasible and cost-effective platform concepts in support of the project environmental and permitting efforts.
  
  
• Coastal studies to assess the impact of various runway options and impact of potential in-bay borrow sites on circulation patterns and sedimentation rates.
  
  
• Environmental studies including sediment chemistry and bioassay studies to evaluate disposal/beneficial reuse of dredged materials.