Royal Docks London - structural assessment of former dry dock at London City Airport

London City Airport was constructed in 1987 on a peninsular of land situated between the King George V Dock and the Royal Albert Dock. Within these former docks several finger docks and dry docks existed, above which the airport was constructed.

  • London City Airport
  • Fjori Ltd
  • London, UK
  • 2017-20
  • Structural assessment of suspended slab
  • Corrosion assessment
  • Evaluation for increased loading
  • Working with corrosion assessment specialists
  • Dealing with Accelerated Low Water Corrosion (ALWC)
  • Assessment of dock structure for increased aircraft loads
  • Specifying underwater structural surveys (carried out by others)
  • Assessment of rates of corrosion and effects on structure's residual life
  • Development of structural grillage model
  • Assessment to Eurocodes and BS5400
  • Historic pump chamber roof slab assessment

Today the aircraft parking apron is situated above the former dry dock constructed in 1921 at the end of the King George V Dock, with the 1987 construction comprising concrete columns, steel beams and a composite deck. Originally designed for the BAe 146, increases in aircraft weights over the last 30 years resulted in Fjori being commissioned by the airport to carry out a structural assessment for heavier aircraft. This assessment has also included an evaluation of corrosion of the steel beams and a critical assessment of corrosion protection measures and the process of ongoing inspection and maintenance.

Fjori has led a specialist team including corrosion experts and diving survey teams to establish a detailed picture of corrosion rates and location. This has included working with some significant blooms of ALWC. The assessment of the former dry
dock has provided the airport with the confidence in this complex structure and an understanding of the structure’s life, management of the load regime and continued monitoring of corrosion.

Fjori also carried out a structural assessment of the old pump chamber which was historically used to drain the dry dock. The roof slab to this chamber, forming part of the taxiway, includes pre-tensioned concrete beams and a structural concrete topping. Fjori specified intrusive surveys to assess the tensioning strands
which allowed an assessment of load capacity.