Not a TR as such and not a social event – so I trust that this is of interest to the forum? There are various pictures from the day which I am sure will get posted shortly.[y]
Richard (Mannion), Sarah (Highflyer) Gilly (Roxsy-Popsy and I had kindly been invited by Peter( Mavrick) to have a tour round T5 and see what it was like before areas get cordoned off for security and build purposes. I have to say that there was an opened mouth “wow” factor as we went from area to area around this building - its absolutely massive as is going to be state of the art – a few current facts:
There are actually going to be 3 Terminals – A, B and C – Terminal 5A- which is the one you can see from the M25, is 3 times bigger than terminal 4. T5A is the same size as the current T4
British Airways will exclusively use T5 – the have a lease on the building for 20 years and an option to extend to 35.
The budget for building is £27 million per week – yes per week!! ( but currently spend is at £14 million a week!!)
There are nearly 7000 people involved in then building.
It’s currently the largest single site construction in Europe.
There will be 129 toilet areas at a cost of £27 million throughout the building.[:0]
Current snagging costs are running at £2 million!! Every small dent upwards is labelled with a bar code so that they know exactly what needs fixing!
The site has gone 2.25million man hours without a reportable accident – the HSE visits regularly and the standards on site are the highest in the country. Commemorative watches have been given to every employee to celebrate this achievement.
The T5 project has its own newspaper – “The Site”.
There will be ongoing construction work at LHR until at least 2038!! ( T2 will be knocked down and rebuilt in this time)
Gilly – being organised arrived in the N3 visitor car park at 8am – Peter had arranged to meet us in the car park at 9am – so 10/10 for you Gilly – as for the rest of us – hmmmm?? I decided to travel down the night before and stay nearby – so set off from my hotel at 8am. Up and down the A4 I went trying to suss out the map Peter had sent me – if only I had realised that the A4 is not the Western Perimeter road – DOH!![:I] Anyway at about 830 I call Pete from the MacDonald’s and as his office is nearby he kindly wanders down to find me along with his wonderful colleague and driver Kevin. I follow them along the ( now found) Western Perimeter up to the N3 Car Park.
On the way Richard and Sarah call – oh dear – they are stuck in what turns out to be 14 miles of stationery traffic on the A40 near Witney ( the day before the were hurtling round in Maseratis on a test track and today 0 miles per hour on the A40) So it looks like they will be running late!
Meet Gilly in the car park – first time we’ve met so great to actually meet another v-flyer and straight away we are into holidays and what It was like etc!!! Once a V-flyer nerd always a v-flyer nerd I guess!!:D
Peter and Kevin collect Gilly and I from the car park and then set off for T5 – then we have to go back because I have forgotten my passport – so another false start DOH! ( again)!![:(!]
Drive up to the main entry which will eventually become the passenger entry when he building is open. Complete the security check in using the aforementioned passport – there are many people waiting to get on site and security is tight!!
Then drive round the building through what appears to be a maze of roads – Kevin tells us that they change the road system daily so its easy to get lost! Apparently there are over 350 lorry entrances to site each day – and that’s with them trying to keep vehicle movements to an absolute minimum!!
We drive past Varga Girl which is parked on stand next to T5B – apparently VS use these stands for parking and having planes cleaned etc – we can practically touch her as we go past!! She looks beautiful and shiny!![:p]
Arrive at Pete’s office – it’s a huge two storey complex upon which they are about to put a third storey – pop inside and get a coffee and then we go upstairs to the main office – its bustling and really busy – you can tell that there's a lot going on. Peter has reserved a conference room – they are like gold dust – and we settle in for some background on the building.
Peter shows us a set of plans on a floor by floor basis – explaining that departures is on the top floor and that passengers enter through the top floor of the multi storey car park – and then across a bridge – this keeps vehicles away from the building to aid security. He takes us through the self serve check in areas where there are many bag drops to the main check in and ticketing areas – these are in three huge banks to the left, right and centre as you enter and then through to the security and lounge areas. The BA international lounge is a monster with a direct view from the 5th and 4th floors out onto the whole of the airport – it will be fantastic!!
As we go through the plans its clear to see that no stone has been left unturned – here is a facility or an area for everything – retail, restaurants, lounges, VIP areas, CIP areas, huge baggage handling facilities – more of which later, prayer rooms for every denomination, areas for minors, illegal immigrants etc etc etc !!
Get togged up in our T5 hi viz, safety shoes, hard hat, safety glasses and gloves and pop outside where Sarah and Richard are just arriving. ( It must be noted that Richard brought the wrong ID with him so a new pass had to be hurriedly drawn up – tsk!! Hehehe![:w]) Interestingly we were given all the safety gear as it is mandatory on site for everyone – I was curious about the gloves but apparently they have prevented so many scrape and cut injuries that they have paid for themselves!! On the way round Peter caught a few sub-contractors without their safety glasses on – naughty!![V]
So now we were all assembled – and we then walked into the ground floor area of the building – under the sign proudly proclaiming how safe the building construction has been!!
As the building has taken shape various areas are being finished and/or tested – so we enter at ground floor into what will become the VIP entrance – so people like the Queen will stand where we are stood!! This lets VIP’s enter the terminal and board their aircraft without going anywhere else in the building.
Next up is the baggage hall where they are testing the baggage belt – this is fantastic and runs on a continuous loop from T5A out to B and C – it takes 8 minutes for a bag to do the complete circuit. The process for a bag is that it leaves the check in or bag drop and is tagged with a microchip. This can then be recognised through the whole system. Your bag will then go through security screening and end up on this massive conveyor – we3 saw bags being tested and they “sit” on the top of the belt on an individual “carriage”. The belt moves a 30mph and when your bag reaches its of load point near your aircraft or wherever then it is tipped off – this is state of the art stuff and will reduce check in times if the airport and airlines want to do so.[:?]
We then go down into the “Tomb of Horus” – the sub basement area lets you see the massive pillars upon which the whole building is sat - although the pillars have only been there for 4 years they look like something from an Egyptian tomb!!
Along through the airside areas to see various crew rooms, rest rooms, toilet and product handling facilities – all of which will be impossible to get to when the building is open. And then up, up, up to the top floor and departures. We have a quick look in the BA lounge which is just beginning its fit out – and what a view this is – and its HUGE!! You will be able to sit in here and look out over the airport or on a mezzanine floor looking into the terminal – we all agreed that we would have to turn to the “dark side” to give this a test!!![:w][:w]:D
We then enter the main departures area – “wow” again – this is impressive – the idea is that you can see from one end of the building to the other – and it really works – the design and architecture are modern yet stylish and the whole building works really well – the roof has areas of glass for natural light – coupled with the huge glass walls this makes it very pleasing – then there are huge aircon units to keep everything at the correct temperature. We see the bag drop points and look down to see the maze of tunnels and belts underneath the floor – the main floor of black marble is already being laid and covered over for protection!!
We walk through what will be the security area and out into the airside departures – this is built like a huge theatre with 2 levels and again because the walls are glass you can see the whole airport and plans landing and taking off in front of you!!
We cant get over how impressive the whole thing is - both in terms of size, design and layout.
Peter shows us a partially completed toilet area – the walls are a lime green colour – I think it looks a bit insipid and apparently BA thinks the same – so a whole load of lime green wall covering may be about to leave site!![:(!]
Walk back down 5 flights of stairs to the ground level again and across to the T5 energy centre. This building provides all the hot and cold water( for air conditioning units) for the building – so its already running. Its impressive – for example – hot and cold water is pumped from here to T5B and eventually to T5C which is 2 miles of pipe. They use a heat exchange system with the current LHR energy centre which is 4 miles away. Two Olympic size swimming pool reservoir areas hold the chilled water for the air con until its needed!! All uncontaminated waste water ( like rain water) is treated and then pumped into the nearby reservoir! The incoming water main is 28 inches in diameter!!! There are three water boilers – each one is the size of a small house. They use Ammonia to as the coolant – if this escapes a state of the art ventilation system pumps it out. The centre and T5B/C are linked by tunnels – these are straight and you cannot see the end!! Amazing place!!
We go up to the energy centre roof to see the cooling systems up there – it takes a great viewing area for the Southern runway and I comment that it would be great to see a VS plane take off – right on cue G-VSHY Madam Butterfly – takes off into the afternoon sky – running slightly late to IAD but putting on a great show to cap off our tour!!! She looked so elegant and we were so close!!:D:D:D[:X]
Back down to Peter's offices to Hand back the borrowed gear and say our farewells to Pete who was on the 001 to EWR that afternoon so we were eating into his Clubhouse time – sorry Pete!! ( His TR appears elsewhere!!)
Kevin then kindly runs us back to the car park where we say our goodbyes!
T5 is an amazing building and we all agreed that we couldn’t wait to go in it when its finished – it will be so cool to see areas where we walked as it was under construction and know what’s behind doors and areas that we will not be able to go into!
Have to really thank Peter for organising such a VIP tour around the facility – his knowledge of the place was amazing and he was a wonderful tour guide and perfect host – Peter – we thank you!!![y][y][y][oo][oo][oo]
Im sure if I've forgotten anything then Sarah, Richard or Gilly will fillin the gaps!!
Richard (Mannion), Sarah (Highflyer) Gilly (Roxsy-Popsy and I had kindly been invited by Peter( Mavrick) to have a tour round T5 and see what it was like before areas get cordoned off for security and build purposes. I have to say that there was an opened mouth “wow” factor as we went from area to area around this building - its absolutely massive as is going to be state of the art – a few current facts:
There are actually going to be 3 Terminals – A, B and C – Terminal 5A- which is the one you can see from the M25, is 3 times bigger than terminal 4. T5A is the same size as the current T4
British Airways will exclusively use T5 – the have a lease on the building for 20 years and an option to extend to 35.
The budget for building is £27 million per week – yes per week!! ( but currently spend is at £14 million a week!!)
There are nearly 7000 people involved in then building.
It’s currently the largest single site construction in Europe.
There will be 129 toilet areas at a cost of £27 million throughout the building.[:0]
Current snagging costs are running at £2 million!! Every small dent upwards is labelled with a bar code so that they know exactly what needs fixing!
The site has gone 2.25million man hours without a reportable accident – the HSE visits regularly and the standards on site are the highest in the country. Commemorative watches have been given to every employee to celebrate this achievement.
The T5 project has its own newspaper – “The Site”.
There will be ongoing construction work at LHR until at least 2038!! ( T2 will be knocked down and rebuilt in this time)
Gilly – being organised arrived in the N3 visitor car park at 8am – Peter had arranged to meet us in the car park at 9am – so 10/10 for you Gilly – as for the rest of us – hmmmm?? I decided to travel down the night before and stay nearby – so set off from my hotel at 8am. Up and down the A4 I went trying to suss out the map Peter had sent me – if only I had realised that the A4 is not the Western Perimeter road – DOH!![:I] Anyway at about 830 I call Pete from the MacDonald’s and as his office is nearby he kindly wanders down to find me along with his wonderful colleague and driver Kevin. I follow them along the ( now found) Western Perimeter up to the N3 Car Park.
On the way Richard and Sarah call – oh dear – they are stuck in what turns out to be 14 miles of stationery traffic on the A40 near Witney ( the day before the were hurtling round in Maseratis on a test track and today 0 miles per hour on the A40) So it looks like they will be running late!
Meet Gilly in the car park – first time we’ve met so great to actually meet another v-flyer and straight away we are into holidays and what It was like etc!!! Once a V-flyer nerd always a v-flyer nerd I guess!!:D
Peter and Kevin collect Gilly and I from the car park and then set off for T5 – then we have to go back because I have forgotten my passport – so another false start DOH! ( again)!![:(!]
Drive up to the main entry which will eventually become the passenger entry when he building is open. Complete the security check in using the aforementioned passport – there are many people waiting to get on site and security is tight!!
Then drive round the building through what appears to be a maze of roads – Kevin tells us that they change the road system daily so its easy to get lost! Apparently there are over 350 lorry entrances to site each day – and that’s with them trying to keep vehicle movements to an absolute minimum!!
We drive past Varga Girl which is parked on stand next to T5B – apparently VS use these stands for parking and having planes cleaned etc – we can practically touch her as we go past!! She looks beautiful and shiny!![:p]
Arrive at Pete’s office – it’s a huge two storey complex upon which they are about to put a third storey – pop inside and get a coffee and then we go upstairs to the main office – its bustling and really busy – you can tell that there's a lot going on. Peter has reserved a conference room – they are like gold dust – and we settle in for some background on the building.
Peter shows us a set of plans on a floor by floor basis – explaining that departures is on the top floor and that passengers enter through the top floor of the multi storey car park – and then across a bridge – this keeps vehicles away from the building to aid security. He takes us through the self serve check in areas where there are many bag drops to the main check in and ticketing areas – these are in three huge banks to the left, right and centre as you enter and then through to the security and lounge areas. The BA international lounge is a monster with a direct view from the 5th and 4th floors out onto the whole of the airport – it will be fantastic!!
As we go through the plans its clear to see that no stone has been left unturned – here is a facility or an area for everything – retail, restaurants, lounges, VIP areas, CIP areas, huge baggage handling facilities – more of which later, prayer rooms for every denomination, areas for minors, illegal immigrants etc etc etc !!
Get togged up in our T5 hi viz, safety shoes, hard hat, safety glasses and gloves and pop outside where Sarah and Richard are just arriving. ( It must be noted that Richard brought the wrong ID with him so a new pass had to be hurriedly drawn up – tsk!! Hehehe![:w]) Interestingly we were given all the safety gear as it is mandatory on site for everyone – I was curious about the gloves but apparently they have prevented so many scrape and cut injuries that they have paid for themselves!! On the way round Peter caught a few sub-contractors without their safety glasses on – naughty!![V]
So now we were all assembled – and we then walked into the ground floor area of the building – under the sign proudly proclaiming how safe the building construction has been!!
As the building has taken shape various areas are being finished and/or tested – so we enter at ground floor into what will become the VIP entrance – so people like the Queen will stand where we are stood!! This lets VIP’s enter the terminal and board their aircraft without going anywhere else in the building.
Next up is the baggage hall where they are testing the baggage belt – this is fantastic and runs on a continuous loop from T5A out to B and C – it takes 8 minutes for a bag to do the complete circuit. The process for a bag is that it leaves the check in or bag drop and is tagged with a microchip. This can then be recognised through the whole system. Your bag will then go through security screening and end up on this massive conveyor – we3 saw bags being tested and they “sit” on the top of the belt on an individual “carriage”. The belt moves a 30mph and when your bag reaches its of load point near your aircraft or wherever then it is tipped off – this is state of the art stuff and will reduce check in times if the airport and airlines want to do so.[:?]
We then go down into the “Tomb of Horus” – the sub basement area lets you see the massive pillars upon which the whole building is sat - although the pillars have only been there for 4 years they look like something from an Egyptian tomb!!
Along through the airside areas to see various crew rooms, rest rooms, toilet and product handling facilities – all of which will be impossible to get to when the building is open. And then up, up, up to the top floor and departures. We have a quick look in the BA lounge which is just beginning its fit out – and what a view this is – and its HUGE!! You will be able to sit in here and look out over the airport or on a mezzanine floor looking into the terminal – we all agreed that we would have to turn to the “dark side” to give this a test!!![:w][:w]:D
We then enter the main departures area – “wow” again – this is impressive – the idea is that you can see from one end of the building to the other – and it really works – the design and architecture are modern yet stylish and the whole building works really well – the roof has areas of glass for natural light – coupled with the huge glass walls this makes it very pleasing – then there are huge aircon units to keep everything at the correct temperature. We see the bag drop points and look down to see the maze of tunnels and belts underneath the floor – the main floor of black marble is already being laid and covered over for protection!!
We walk through what will be the security area and out into the airside departures – this is built like a huge theatre with 2 levels and again because the walls are glass you can see the whole airport and plans landing and taking off in front of you!!
We cant get over how impressive the whole thing is - both in terms of size, design and layout.
Peter shows us a partially completed toilet area – the walls are a lime green colour – I think it looks a bit insipid and apparently BA thinks the same – so a whole load of lime green wall covering may be about to leave site!![:(!]
Walk back down 5 flights of stairs to the ground level again and across to the T5 energy centre. This building provides all the hot and cold water( for air conditioning units) for the building – so its already running. Its impressive – for example – hot and cold water is pumped from here to T5B and eventually to T5C which is 2 miles of pipe. They use a heat exchange system with the current LHR energy centre which is 4 miles away. Two Olympic size swimming pool reservoir areas hold the chilled water for the air con until its needed!! All uncontaminated waste water ( like rain water) is treated and then pumped into the nearby reservoir! The incoming water main is 28 inches in diameter!!! There are three water boilers – each one is the size of a small house. They use Ammonia to as the coolant – if this escapes a state of the art ventilation system pumps it out. The centre and T5B/C are linked by tunnels – these are straight and you cannot see the end!! Amazing place!!
We go up to the energy centre roof to see the cooling systems up there – it takes a great viewing area for the Southern runway and I comment that it would be great to see a VS plane take off – right on cue G-VSHY Madam Butterfly – takes off into the afternoon sky – running slightly late to IAD but putting on a great show to cap off our tour!!! She looked so elegant and we were so close!!:D:D:D[:X]
Back down to Peter's offices to Hand back the borrowed gear and say our farewells to Pete who was on the 001 to EWR that afternoon so we were eating into his Clubhouse time – sorry Pete!! ( His TR appears elsewhere!!)
Kevin then kindly runs us back to the car park where we say our goodbyes!
T5 is an amazing building and we all agreed that we couldn’t wait to go in it when its finished – it will be so cool to see areas where we walked as it was under construction and know what’s behind doors and areas that we will not be able to go into!
Have to really thank Peter for organising such a VIP tour around the facility – his knowledge of the place was amazing and he was a wonderful tour guide and perfect host – Peter – we thank you!!![y][y][y][oo][oo][oo]
Im sure if I've forgotten anything then Sarah, Richard or Gilly will fillin the gaps!!
