At the border of Daxing, Beijing and Guangyang, Langfang, as far as the eye can see, 27 tower cranes of varying heights are scattered, with numerous cranes lifting arms. In the future, 43 more tower cranes will be erected here.
On the flat ground, the sounds of welding and hammering constantly reach the ears from under the steel frames. Below, 9,000 piles have been driven and 60 base slabs laid. It is expected that by September this year, the underground works of the new airport terminal will be basically completed and emerge above ground.
Exactly three years later, on this land, the Beijing New Airport, spanning Beijing and Hebei, will be completed and put into operation, becoming the world's largest airport. The world's best is not just this one item; the Beijing New Airport will also achieve the world's first high-speed rail underpass beneath an airport, and the first layout of double-level arrivals and double-level departures in a terminal. Achieving a "dual entry and dual exit" effect, and will set up a domestic departure rapid check-in level.
In 2008, Terminal 3 of Capital Airport was completed, becoming the world's largest single terminal at that time; after the new airport is completed, it will be the world's largest airport.
Coincidentally, Zhao Haichuan, deputy secretary of the Beijing Urban Construction Project, personally experienced the construction of these two major airports. After 8 years, he has moved to the new airport to be responsible for the construction of the core area of the terminal. He recalled that at the time, Terminal 3 was considered too large, with a building area of 986,000 square meters; but compared with the new airport with an area of 1.4 million square meters, it immediately seemed small. "Just for the preliminary foundation works, 9,000 piles were driven."
He waved his arms to describe the future appearance of this land: the new airport terminal will radiate five concourses from the center, with the southernmost concourse mainly for international flights, while the four east and west concourses can be divided into two groups, forming two pairs of arrival and departure areas, making resource allocation clearer.
The area is larger, and the difficulty coefficient is also increasing. Since the official start of construction on March 15 this year, the underground part of the terminal core area has been under continuous construction. Here, not only conventional airport facilities such as baggage self-pickup systems, equipment rooms, and passages will be built, but also 6 tracks will be laid, two of which are specifically for the Beijing-Bazhou passenger dedicated line, achieving the first high-speed rail underpass beneath an airport.
Another record-breaking aspect is the above-ground part. Zhu Wenxin, assistant to the commander of the Beijing New Airport Command, said that the future new airport terminal will have 5 floors above ground in some parts, mostly 4 floors, with the fifth floor specifically set up as a farewell area for relatives and friends; the third and fourth floors are departure levels for check-in procedures. He specifically called the third floor the "domestic departure rapid check-in level," which will mainly serve domestic passengers and have dedicated lanes for entry; the first and second floors are respectively for international arrivals and domestic arrivals. This double-level arrival and departure has no precedent in airport terminals around the world.
Four runways to be built first
Satellite halls to accommodate more passengers in the future
The Beijing New Airport will have 7 runways, achieving an annual passenger throughput of 100 million. In this phase, 4 runways will be built first, with an expected annual throughput of 72 million by 2025.
In terms of runway configuration, the 4 runways in the near-term construction of the new airport adopt a "three vertical and one horizontal" all-directional configuration, which is the first in China. A relevant person in charge of the new airport construction command also explained that this runway configuration is suitable for the air operation characteristics of the Beijing-Tianjin region, providing multiple feasible options for air traffic control operations, maximizing the use of the tight airspace resources in the Beijing area, and reducing aircraft ground taxiing time.
Although the current runways can already meet 72 million passengers, considering factors such as investment safety and orderliness, the terminal of the new airport in this phase is built to accommodate 45 million passengers. Zhu Wenxin revealed that with the future development of the new airport, a satellite hall will be built on the south side as an auxiliary project to accommodate more passengers. "The terminal and satellite hall will be connected by an APM train."
According to the current project plan, on September 15 this year, the core area of the new airport terminal will emerge above ground; by the end of January next year, the above-ground concrete structure will be topped out; by the end of June next year, the above-ground steel structure will be topped out; in the first half of 2018, the curtain wall and roof will be capped and enclosed; in July 2019, the new airport will be delivered for use.
When Terminal 3 was under construction, the media used "China speed" to describe the rapid construction speed, taking only 45 months to complete; the construction period of the new airport will be even shorter, only 40 months.
Coordinated development of the three regions
New airport to become a railway network node
Looking at the map, the straight-line distance from the new airport to Tiananmen is 46 kilometers, while Capital Airport is only 25 kilometers. Therefore, when the National Development and Reform Commission initially approved the new airport, it formulated a comprehensive transportation plan of "five vertical and two horizontal" lines.
Vertically, three major expressways will be laid out within a 10-square-kilometer area. In the west, the Daguang Expressway (i.e., Jingkai Expressway) from the Sixth Ring Road to the city boundary will be widened from the current two lanes in each direction to three lanes in each direction, and the auxiliary roads will also be widened to three lanes in each direction; in the middle, the new airport expressway will connect the central city with the north terminal of the new airport; further east, the Beijing section of the Jingtai Expressway under construction will break the dead-end road and connect with the Hebei section.
In addition, the "two vertical" lines are rail transit. The new airport express rail, announced to start construction at the end of last year, starts from Caoqiao in the north and reaches the north terminal in the south, and will be extended to the south terminal in the future; the Beijing-Bazhou passenger dedicated line from Beijing West Station to Bazhou, Hebei, will also set up a station at the new airport, incorporating the new airport into the railway network and making it an important node on the railway network, while also achieving the first high-speed rail underpass beneath an airport.
Horizontally, the new airport north line expressway will connect the three major expressways of Jingkai, New Airport, and Jingtai, and in the future will also have the conditions to extend to the Jinghu Expressway and Jinggangao Expressway; the Langzhuo intercity railway, as a horizontal intercity railway, on the one hand facilitates passengers from Hebei and other regions to enter the new airport by rail transit, and on the other hand, because it shares the line with the intercity connection line, it can connect the new and old airports.
In this way, the new airport line can connect the central area of Beijing with the urban rail network at multiple points; high-speed railways and intercity railways can reach major surrounding cities within two hours; high-speed railways also further expand the service scope of the new airport.
More importantly, looking at the overall situation of Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei, the regional synergy of the new airport cannot be underestimated. The new airport is located between Beijing and Langfang, Hebei, which is the central position among the major cities of Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei, and also a key overlapping and connecting area for the planned development of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region. A relevant person in charge of Langfang City revealed that the "Beijing New Airport Airport Economic Zone Plan (2015-2020)", led by the National Development and Reform Commission and jointly compiled with Beijing Municipality and Hebei Province, is currently being submitted for approval according to procedures.