Now this is what I call an expensive runway! In Portugal, A special
airport has been made — the airport’s runway with a length of 2781
meters (9124 ft.), of which 1000 meters (3281 ft.) of the runway is
supported by 180 pillars, each pillar 50 meters height (about 17 floors)
, surprisingly, the runway is designed for B-747.
Look at the cars parked below the runway. Pretty awesome isn’t it?
Why Madeira? Madeira is an archipelago with volcanic origins from a Hot
Spot and a city near Funchal, Portugal that has long been recognized for
its airport. Originally, the airport runway was something of a
spectacle for its outrageously short length. Being that it was
surrounded by the ocean on one side and mountains on the other, even the
most skilled pilots had a hard time pulling planes in to land. Madeira
is definitely a great spots for tourist destinations.
This new runway extension was built over the ocean. Instead of using
landfill to construct the extension, the runway sits on 180 columns that
are 70 meters tall. After it was completed, the Madeira Runway
extension won the Outstanding Structures Award by the International
Association of Bridge and Structural Engineering. This is considered the
“Oscar” for engineering structure in Portugal. The new runway is widely
celebrated as a great feat in architecture due to its sheer size and
the amount of labor it took to erect it.
The total construction costs for the extension amounted to more than 500
million Euros, a small price to pay considering pilots and passengers
can now land without fear. The new airport runway can accommodate all
kinds of commercial and private aircraft and more than three million
passengers per year.
Local pilots are often still said to be the most proficient at landing
and taking off at Madeira Airport being that there is still ocean on
either end. Nevertheless, no matter who is flying the plane, the new
runway at Madeira is an architectural wonder both in appearance and in
function.
