On October 12, 2024, the construction of the terminal building and its elevated bridge foundation in front of Dalian Jinzhou Bay International Airport officially began, marking the substantive stage of the construction of the new terminal building of the country's first offshore "artificial island" airport.

The project consists of over 3000 rock socketed piles, which are three times longer than those of conventional land airports. As the "invisible support" of engineering, pile foundation engineering plays a crucial role in ensuring the seismic resistance and durability of the airport's main structure. It is not only the first line of defense for the safety and stability of airport structures and the resistance to natural disasters, but also a key element for the smooth progress and timely completion of the entire airport construction project.

This project will pour approximately 400000 cubic meters of concrete and use 43000 tons of steel bars. The total area of the terminal and front elevated bridge pile foundation project is 200000 square meters, covering the terminal, front elevated bridge pile foundation, and front foundation pit engineering. The diameter of these rock socketed piles ranges from 1.2 meters to 1.6 meters, with the longest pile length exceeding 80 meters. All of them are constructed using full rotation casing and rotary drilling technology, with an estimated total construction period of one and a half years.

To ensure the smooth progress of pile foundation construction, the airport organized and carried out pile testing projects in the early stage. Through multiple experiments, a pile foundation construction process suitable for the actual situation of Jinzhou Bay Airport has been successfully explored, including hole formation, steel cage placement, concrete pouring, and post grouting. All 16 test piles have passed the high standard testing, and their bearing capacity fully meets the design requirements, providing valuable experience and important basis for the construction and testing of subsequent engineering piles.

Given the complexity of the geological conditions of the project, especially the karst geological conditions present in deep bedrock, the construction team conducted detailed surveys during the construction process to ensure that the pile end can enter stable rock layers and meet the bearing capacity requirements of the pile foundation design.

To ensure the safe and efficient progress of the project, the pile foundation engineering plan adopts a segmented construction and segmented acceptance method. At the same time, the pile foundation project and the main structure project of the terminal building will be pushed forward, and it is expected that the foundation construction of the main structure of the terminal building can begin after 8 months of pile foundation construction. On the premise of ensuring project compliance and quality standards, we will firmly grasp the key steps and progress of airport engineering.

Dalian Jinzhou Bay International Airport is located in the eastern waters of Jinzhou Bay, with a land area of 20 square kilometers, superior airspace conditions, and advantageous geographical location. The project is planned to be constructed in two phases. In this phase, two long-distance parallel runways and a 500000 square meter terminal will be planned to meet the annual passenger throughput of 43 million, cargo and mail throughput of 550000 tons, and the demand for 330000 flight takeoffs and landings. The demand for 10000 passengers, 550000 tons of cargo and mail, and 330000 takeoffs and landings of flights. Editor/Cheng Liting