Limak Insaat has appointed heavy lifting and transport specialist Mammoet to carry out the transportation and installation works for the new $4.3bn terminal construction project at Kuwait International Airport.

The Turkish construction company is constructing the terminal on behalf of the Kuwait Ministry of Public Works and it is intended to “significantly increase the capacity of the airport and establish a new regional air hub” in the Gulf. Replacing the existing terminal, the building will increase passenger capacity to 25 million per year once completed.

“We are very pleased that Limak Insaat have selected Mammoet as their heavy lifting partner and are proud to be involved in such a prestigious project that contributes to the development of the country’s economy,” said Martijn Kuipers, managing director Mammoet Middle East and Africa.

The terminal has a trefoil plan, comprising of three symmetrical wings of departure gates. Each facade spans 1.2km and all extend from a 25m-high central space. Mammoet will install all precast sections of the terminal’s main structure, which consists of 804 concrete elements each weighing between 200 and 360 tonnes. To complete the project, Mammoet will deploy nine crawler cranes ranging in capacity from 600y to 1,600t and 72 axle lines of self-propelled modular transporters (SPMT).

“Early involvement of a heavy lifting specialist is key on projects of such a large scale. On this project we were able to offer our engineering input and advice on the selection of the right equipment to increase the overall efficiency of the project. Our client was able to fine tune and adapt the initial strategy to optimize the entire construction approach,” said Mammoet’s project manager Andrew Hefft.