Product category:
Electrical hardware
News Release from: Tyco Thermal Controls | Subject: Freeze protection heat-tracing de-icing system
Edited by the Engineeringtalk Editorial
Team on 28 March 2005
Anti-icing for biggest air passenger
bridge
In a full engineer, procure and construct (EPC) project, Tracer has provided an electrical anti-icing system for the world's largest air-passenger bridge, at London Gatwick Airport.
In a full engineer, procure and construct (EPC) project, Tracer, the engineering arm of Tyco Thermal Controls, has provided an electrical anti-icing system for the world's largest air-passenger bridge, at London Gatwick Airport Tracer was contracted by NG Bailey and Co, the M and E contractor for the 197-metre bridge, which is part of BAA Gatwick's GBP 100m Pier Six extension project
This article was originally published on Engineeringtalk on 1 Jun 2001 at 8.00am (UK)
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The Pier Six extension has been designed to connect the north terminal with 11 new aircraft stands.
Spanning a live taxiway, the passenger bridge is 32-metres high and gives sufficient clearance for Boeing 747 aircraft to pass beneath it.
The freeze protection heat-tracing system has been installed to alleviate the risk of snow and ice falling from the underside of the structure.
The 2,700 tonne bridge was constructed 1.5km away from its final location and then moved in to position over 10 days.
Tracer had to install the heat-trace cabling before the bridge was moved, as no work was permitted on the outside of the structure after it had been sited and the taxiway underneath re-opened.
From within Tyco Thermal Controls proprietary brands (Raychem, Pyrotenax, Isopad and Digitrace, for instance) Tracer had an extensive choice of products from which to select.
For the Gatwick application, it employed mechanically robust Pyrotenax mineral insulated (MI) heating elements, that are claimed to be proven to perform well in the harshest of climatic environments.
Six heating elements, each 94-metres long, have been installed, using specially prepared stainless steel fixing strips, which complement the aesthetic appearance of the bridge.
Digitrace 915 controllers are programmed to activate the anti-icing system whenever the ambient temperature falls below +5 degrees C.
The controllers also feature a facility to programme-in automatic circuit-integrity checks during periods when the system is not active and for reassurance that it is fully functional and ready prior to winter - the period of greatest need, said Tracer.
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