First fully-private airport in the country

Result of R$ 200 million investments, Aerovale will have its landing runway concluded until May. This runway may be used as an alternative for executive planes during the World Cup 2014

The Air Sector is being transformed in a strong attractive force for private investments in Brazil, mainly due to the well-succeeded auctions for concession of Confins (MG) and Galeão (RJ) airports, carried out in November, 2013. An evidence of the huge interest of the investors in this area is the construction of Aerovale, in the city of Caçapava, region of Paraíba Valley, in the state of São Paulo. This is the first totally private airport built in the country, an ambitious project that will gather in the same place airport activities, an aircraft industrial complex and a mall with infrastructure of services, shops, restaurants, etc.

Established in a total area of 2265 million sq.mt—what corresponds to 278 soccer fields—the project has an estimated cost of more than R$ 200 million, totally provided  by Penido Construtora.

The installations will include a passenger terminal for commercial and executive aircrafts, a corporative building, a heliport and a commercial center with hotel, restaurants, banks, shops, bookstores, drugstores, etc. Part of the area will be reserved for the installation of 117 lots for air companies—with direct access to the runway—that will offer services of hangar, air taxi, logistics and training for the air industry. Currently, most of the existing hangars in Brazil are concession-operated properties of Infraero.

Another area will be divided in 137 industrial lots (936 to 15,000 sq.mt.) where logistic centers and manufacturers of parts and equipment for aircraft industry may build their installations. According to Penido Construtora, the condominium—that has 30 percent of its area already sold—will start to operate at the end of 2013, but the take-off and landing runway will start its operation in May, 2014. This runway may be used as an alternative for executive aircrafts during the games of World Cup 2014. The runway has 1.530m x 30m, a little shorter than the main runway of Congonhas airport (SP) and 227 m longer than the runway of Santos Dumont Airport (RJ). This runway enables Aerovale to receive domestic flights from aircrafts with the size of a Boeing 737 although being designed for executive aviation, which operates with lower-capacity aircrafts for short-distance flights.

All this structure will have the benefit of a privileged location, since Aerovale is located at 167 km from São Paulo and 319 km from Rio de Janeiro. Helicopter flights take 25 minutes to São Paulo and 100 minutes to Rio de Janeiro. The complex will be located at 4 km of President Dutra Highway and at 350 m of Carvalho Pinto Highway.

Pioneering

This is the first project developed in Brazil with such features. According to the investor Rogério Penido, owner of a construction and paving contractor that has his surname, the country has a delay of at least 40 years if compared to other countries where this kind of private investment is quite usual.

Rogério Penido informs that the request of granting to exploit the space and to receive commercial flights is being analyzed by the State Secretariat of Civil Aviation of the Presidency.

For Penido, the Aerovale Project is surprising the market. Brazil has the second largest air fleet in the world—only below the United States—and the number of aircrafts is increasing in a rate of 6 percent per year, much more than that recorded in foreign countries, according to data of ABAG – Associação Brasileira de Aviação Geral (Brazilian Association of General Aviation).

“We know that the hangar space available is not enough and that the largest airports have several restrictions to executive aviation. It is time to have a premium airport dedicated to this sector, fundamental for the country’s development,” emphasizes him.

At this time, Aerovale will generate 2000 direct employments, having potential to generate 30,000 direct and indirect work posts when the whole complex enters in full operation.

Bad weather and difficult deadlines

Works started in October, 2012, after waiting the environmental licenses during seven years. All earthmoving and compaction works—a total volume of 4700 cu.mt. of earth, with a daily production of 45,000 cu.mt.—are concluded. Four contractors—Penido, Seixo Terraplanagem e Construções, Franciscato and Lopes Moço—carried out these works. According to Manoel Alcaide, president of Seixo, that performed about half of these works, the main challenge of this phase—when about 50 machines were used by Seixo—was to comply with the schedules in a period of heavy rain, in a way to ensure no delays. The effort was worthwile.

Alcaide informs also that Seixo—that is working in the market for more than 34 years—was responsible by supply and install piping and concrete dowels for approximately 30 km of draining galleries in the whole airport.

State-of-the-art technology for infrastructure design

Every year, Autodesk chooses the best projects that use technologies for planning, drawing, developing and managing infrastructure works. The selection includes highways, railways and other areas of construction industry. Aerovale, a premium airport that is being built in Caçapava (SP), was the winner of the Autodesk 2012 due to the interaction among the companies SC Engenharia, Moya Engenharia and Construtora Penido.

The team of designers used the software Civil 3D to develop more carefully and efficiently the complex design and infrastructure. Processes based on BIM technology helped to coordinate the design of streets, runway, draining systems and the whole relationship between the airport and its neighborhood, including the hydrographic basin. Designers used the 3D features of the software to identify and get solutions for interferences and, at the same time, keep updated the Project documentation.

“In Aerovale, we used the most modern technologies to ensure the quality and the best use of time. In earthmoving works, a GPS (Global Positioning System) system was used to inform us about the heights already obtained in each place as the works were being carried out,” explained Rogério Penido, CEO of Aerovale.