Building the Future - Terminal 3 Menu

From the First to the Last Stone
At the Heart of Terminal 3

The First Stone in the Wall

The cornerstone ceremony took place at the Terminal 3 construction site on April 29, 2019 with about 700 invited guests. The stone contains a time capsule that was blessed by representatives of the three main Abrahamic religions: Christianity, Islam, and Judaism. Along with recent issues of major regional newspapers, it also holds a bottle of wine made from grapes grown in the German state of Hesse and a list of all of the individuals who had so far been involved in this major construction project. There is also a hard disk with digital copies of the project plans. All of this will ensure that important information on the construction of Terminal 3 is preserved for posterity.

What looks at first glance like a “find the hidden objects” game shows the ongoing construction work in the area of the main terminal building. When this photograph was taken, the work had progressed to varying degrees in different areas.

About 1,600 tonnes of sand and gravel were delivered for the concreting work at the main terminal building.

Concrete mixers standing ready for cast-in-place concreting work at the construction site.

Piece by piece, floor slabs up to 2.5 meters thick are created on a total area of 65,000 square meters at the site of the main terminal building.

Not only “conventional” cranes are involved in building the above-ground parts of the main terminal building in the south of Frankfurt Airport, but also mobile cranes.

The retaining walls that have surrounded and stabilized the pits are no longer needed as work to make the carcass progresses. They are therefore pulled out and stored for reuse at other construction sites.

Tall cranes deployed at the main terminal building temporarily define the airport’s southern skyline.

In the shadow of the apron control tower looming overhead, the main terminal building climbs steadily higher.

The final interior design is characterized by concrete pillars with a natural stone look.

The interior is also taking shape. These striking mushroom-shaped pillars have already been installed in the baggage claim area.

The supports for the marketplace’s ceiling are precisely positioned.

“Frankfurt Airport is already an international leader in terms of connectivity. No other aviation hub rivals Frankfurt in terms of the number of destinations that passengers can reach from here, whether they are business travelers or tourists. Terminal 3 is making Germany’s gateway to the world even better.” (Dr. Stefan Schulte)

Construction of the main terminal building begins underground

A total of 270,000 cubic meters of concrete and 60,000 tonnes of steel have been used to create the substructure of the main terminal building. To make the first underground level, the construction workers began by inserting steel rebars into the floor slabs. The next step was to pour the in situ concrete. As soon as it finished curing, work to build the walls commenced. (More on the substructure)

Topping It Off

As soon as the walls are standing all the way around and the concrete has cured, the empty spaces between them and the retaining walls can be filled in with earth extracted while digging the pit at the start. The construction workers use a vibrating tamper to additionally compact the earth and sand.

One thing is still missing: the ceiling. Closely spaced formwork posts are used to push the formwork for the ceiling upward to the desired height. They penetrate the slightly protruding reinforcement of the walls to form a unit. Concrete can then be poured in. After it has cured, this level’s carcass is complete.

Everything Tight?!

The first milestone in erecting the building’s carcass was reached in mid-2020. At that point, after placing 145,000 cubic meters of concrete and 20,000 tonnes of rebars, the groundwater retention measures were no longer needed.

While construction of the carcass for the above-ground levels proceeds, work to install equipment gets underway down below. The pace quickens at the site of one of Europe’s largest privately funded infrastructure projects.

Check-in counters are taking shape in front of and behind the steel supports in the check-in hall.

Underfloor heating keeps Terminal 3’s check-in hall comfortably warm.

Enormous “drops” make the ceiling of the marketplace in the main terminal building seem to flow downward.

Daylight passes through the “drops” into the central marketplace.

The marketplace’s impressive ceiling consists of 25 kilometers of aluminum tubing.

Drops on the ceiling focus the light

The progress being made in building Terminal 3 isn’t only apparent on the outside; a lot is also happening on the inside. The carcass of the 12,200-square-meter marketplace, for example, is slowly taking shape. (more on the carcass of the marketplace) One particular challenge is creating the artful drop ceiling, a unique one-of-a-kind structure.

A see-through check-in hall

The outer shell of the main building of Terminal 3 comprises 7,000 square meters of glass: over 700 individual panes, each measuring 4.5 by two meters. Laborious calculations were required to make sure that the glazed exterior, weighing a total of nearly 500 tonnes, is strong enough to withstand wind and weather.

Related Topics : From the First to the Last Stone

Vision

Main Building  

Read more
Next Topic
Pier G

Pier G

 

zur Themenübersicht