In the renovation and expansion project of Velana International Airport in the Maldives, Beijing Urban Construction Group has successfully created a model case of infrastructure construction and sustainable development under the Belt and Road Initiative with ESG concepts as the core. This EPC EPC general contracting project with a total investment of US$439.81 million not only achieves technological breakthroughs, but also sets new benchmarks in environmental protection, social responsibility and corporate governance.

In terms of technological innovation, the project team has overcome the problems of coral reef geological construction and developed a number of innovative achievements such as open cofferdam-free coral sand island and reef blowing and filling technology, and pelagic island and reef landform revetment engineering technology. Among them, the recycling and reuse technology of concrete building materials has processed about 120,000 tons of construction waste, setting a precedent for the resource utilization of construction waste in the Maldives.

In terms of green development, the project adopts green technologies such as seawater desalination, solar energy utilization, and LED lighting to achieve resource recycling. The application of digital construction technology has improved the comprehensive construction efficiency by more than 30%, and the GNSS settlement observation system provides accurate data support for project safety.

The social benefits are remarkable, and the project has created a large number of local employment opportunities and trained a group of professional and technical talents. The expanded airport's passenger capacity has increased by 2.6 times, and cargo throughput has increased by 142%, injecting strong impetus into the development of Maldives' tourism industry.

The project has won many honors such as the first prize of the Engineering Construction Science and Technology Progress Award, and obtained 11 authorized invention patents. Through this project, Beijing Urban Construction Group not only realizes the "hard connectivity" of infrastructure, but also promotes the "heart connection" between China and Malaysia with green innovation and humanistic care, providing replicable ESG solutions for the construction of global island projects.(This article is from the official website of Jiandao www.seetao.com it must not be reproduced without permission, otherwise it will be investigated, please indicate the reprint of Jiandao.com + original link) See the editor of the infrastructure engineering column of Jiandao.com/Gao Xue