Major progress has been made in the construction of the world's largest single steel hangar
Recently, the field of prefab metal airplane hangar ushered in major good news, the construction of the No. 1 airplane hangar building of a new airport maintenance base project in China was successfully promoted, and the overall roof of this prefabricated steel aircraft hangar was successfully completed, marking the key construction node of this high-profile civil aviation steel structure hangar with the largest single scale and longest span in the world.
Starting from Xiamen city, go east through the Second East Passage or Xiang 'an Tunnel, and then drive south, you can reach this hot prefab metal airplane hangar construction site. Xiamen Taikoo Xiang 'an New Airport Maintenance Base project is located in the north of the flight area of Xiang 'an Airport, with a land area of about 537,300 square meters and a construction area of about 292,300 square meters. Among them, No. 1 prefab metal airplane hangar and No. 2 prefab metal airplane hangar are the core of the project, and the total steel volume of steel structure is nearly 30,000 tons. The completion of the overall upgrade of the No. 1 airplane hangar building roof, is called "Big MAC", weighing 11,393 tons, hangar door truss single-span maximum span of 269.5 meters, the world's first.
At the construction site, 54 hydraulic devices work together under the linkage of the control system, pulling the No. 1 airplane hangar building slowly rising. After about 8 hours, the roof was raised by 27 meters and successfully reached the designated height of 42.5 meters. With such a huge weight and ultra-long span, the docking error in the high air should be accurately controlled at the millimeter level, while ensuring the safety of the overall structure, which is undoubtedly a huge test for the construction team. However, the builders have successfully overcome this problem with superb technology and indomitable perseverance.
According to the person in charge of the project, the No. 1 airplane hangar building to be promoted this time uses a three-layer two-direction orthogonal oblique welding ball grid + three-layer long-span truss structural system, the welding ball grid assembly height is more than 12 meters, and the truss assembly height is more than 15 meters, and the assembly is extremely difficult. In order to ensure the smooth progress of construction, the project team adopted in-situ assembly and modular assembly technologies, deepened modeling, clamping collision inspection and digital processing through BIM technology, and simulated and rehearsed the overall process of assembly construction. In the process of upgrading, the prefabricated steel aircraft hangar body steel structure lattice column is also innovatively used as a support system, and there is no additional lifting tire frame, which is not only energy saving and environmental protection, but also greatly improves the construction efficiency. In addition, in order to ensure the accuracy and safety of the construction, Xiamen Zhuan Station and the project team arranged monitoring sensors at the key rods on the roof to monitor the on-site construction conditions in real time and provide a scientific basis for construction personnel.
The design of this prefabricated steel aircraft hangar is also very forward-looking. From gestation and preparation to the imminent completion, the designer, the General Planning Institute of Aviation Industry Corporation of China, has been deeply engaged for 10 years. Based on the analysis of aircraft storage status, the design team accurately controlled the outline volume of the building and realized the unity of the form, function and structure of the building. The prefabricated steel aircraft hangar adopts a back-to-back symmetrical layout of the middle axis, which provides the possibility of interworking and sharing for all kinds of workshops and aviation materials, greatly improving efficiency and shortening the moving line. At the same time, it has fully reserved for the application of 5G and other communication technologies, and has adopted a number of energy-saving and environmental protection measures such as photovoltaic power generation system, air conditioning water storage system, and the future goal is to obtain LEED-NC gold certification.
It is reported that the steel structure project of Xiamen Taikoo Xiang 'an new Airport maintenance base will be completed in July this year, and it is expected to be completed and accepted in November 2025. When completed, the maintenance base will be able to accommodate 12 wide-body aircraft and six narrow-body aircraft, including two separate painting stands, which can flexibly park different types of aircraft and meet different maintenance needs. It will further enhance the operation support capacity and comprehensive service level of Xiamen Xiang 'an Airport, help Xiamen build a high-level international aviation hub center and an important highland of the global aviation maintenance industry, and provide strong support for promoting high-quality integrated development of the Cross-Strait economy and implementing high-quality joint construction of the "Belt and Road".
The construction of this prefabricated steel aircraft hangar is not only a major breakthrough in construction technology, but also an important milestone in the field of aviation infrastructure construction in China, showing China's strong strength and innovation in the field of steel structure construction and aviation engineering. It is believed that with the joint efforts of all parties, this world-class prefabricated steel aircraft hangar will be completed on schedule and inject new impetus into the development of China's civil aviation industry.