Newmont Tanami airport upgrade
- Project: Tanami Airport Upgrade, Northern Territory
- Client: Newmont
- Sector: Mining & Resources
- Year: 2021-2025
The Tanami Airport Upgrade involved the brownfield upgrade of The Granites Airport supporting Newmont’s remote Tanami operations. Fraser-Lever provided multidisciplinary engineering design and construction support across the runway, taxiway, apron, airfield ground lighting and associated aviation infrastructure.
Project overview
The project involved upgrading the existing airport to provide safe, reliable and compliant air access for Newmont’s remote Tanami operation and support ongoing Embraer 190 aircraft operations.
Works included resealing the existing runway, reconstruction and extension of the taxiway and apron, redesign of the airfield ground lighting and associated electrical infrastructure, weather-station upgrades and development of aerodrome fire-protection infrastructure.
Fraser-Lever’s role
Fraser-Lever provided multidisciplinary engineering design and construction support across the airport upgrade, working with Newmont, contractors and aviation stakeholders throughout delivery.
The scope included:
- Runway pavement investigation, analysis and design
- Runway reseal design
- Taxiway and apron reconstruction
- Apron extension
- Airfield ground lighting and associated electrical design
- Weather-station upgrades
- Fire-water storage, pumping, hydrant and foam-system development
- Tender and contractor support
- CASA liaison
- Site supervision and technical support during construction
Fraser-Lever developed the civil and electrical design packages and coordinated interfaces between pavement, lighting, power, controls, underground services and fire-protection infrastructure.
The engineering challenge
Upgrading an operating airport in a remote desert environment required the engineering to respond to tight construction windows, variable pavement conditions and the operational constraints of a critical mine-site asset.
Pavement testing identified significant variability across the runway, with CBR results ranging from 9 to 110 across nearby test locations. Construction methodology was also constrained to a single stabilising layer undertaken during day shift, while high desert temperatures created additional challenges for the application of the bitumen pavement.
The design therefore needed to accommodate materially different ground conditions while remaining practical to construct within the available methodology and operational constraints.
Engineering in practice
Fraser-Lever designed the pavement for 1,000 annual aircraft movements over a 20-year design life, using the Embraer 190 as the design aircraft.
Rather than applying a uniform pavement treatment across the runway, the team developed a practical, risk-based approach using the available CBR data. Sections with CBR values below 50 were designed with a 250mm stabilised layer, while stronger sections used 200 mm. Binder trials determined that 2% lime provided the most consistent UCS response and greatest improvement in the weakest material.
The airfield ground lighting was coordinated with the revised runway, taxiway and apron geometry, including power and control interfaces, underground conduit routing, equipment and pole interfaces and aerodrome documentation.
Fraser-Lever also developed the fire-protection arrangement for the fuel-storage bund, aircraft refuelling and tanker unloading areas. The design incorporated hydrant and foam coverage, dual fire-water storage, dual diesel duty pumps and a jacking pump arrangement, while maintaining practical equipment access and separation of critical infrastructure.
Project outcomes
Fraser-Lever delivered an integrated airport upgrade design and construction-support package covering runway pavement works, taxiway and apron upgrades, airfield ground lighting, electrical infrastructure, weather-station upgrades and fire-protection infrastructure.
The coordinated approach converted variable site conditions and construction constraints into practical pavement treatments and integrated service layouts, helping reduce interface, constructability and delivery risk for a critical remote-site asset. Fraser-Lever also supported tendering, contractor coordination, CASA liaison and construction through site supervision and technical support.
Planning an upgrade to critical operational infrastructure?
Talk to our team about practical engineering and project delivery support for brownfield infrastructure upgrades.