The team behind the award-winning Temporary Drop Off Zone (TDOZ) at London Luton Airport have been presented with the official trophy recognising their efforts.
Project manager Salvo Cardinale, site manager Mick Byrne, senior site engineer Thangavelu “Vani” Vanithasan and project and operations manager Joe Hankins were responsible for the job winning the Project of the Year (up to £10m) accolade at this year’s National Building and Construction Awards.
The project was a necessary consequence of the fire which destroyed the airport’s multi-storey car park back in October 2023, leaving customers without access to the terminal and costing LLA in lost revenue.
With a timetable of just 16 weeks, completing the works ahead of the busy school holiday period was essential, but Ryebridge pulled out all the stops to hand it over in just 13 and a half weeks.
Salvo explained: “It was a major project which didn’t just involve creating a new drop-off site for passengers, but the relocation of the existing taxi rank, the diversion of the pedestrian walkway into the airport, a new car park, new street lighting, a new traffic system, a new barrierless payment system using ANPR (Automatic Number Plate Recognition), plus new signage, lining and street furniture.”
Joe added: “We had to phase the works in order to keep the bus terminal live, with no delays to services, prevent any disruption to taxis when the rank was relocated, and all the while avoiding any disruption to airport operations. That it was completed so far ahead of schedule is down to the efforts of all the lads involved, and so we’re accepting this award on their behalf as well.”
The completion of works on a new multi-storey car park means the TDOZ is no longer in use.
Joe, Salvo, Vani and Mick with the award.