MADEIRA INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT

Engineering is an extremely wide science, covering a series of branches. Among those, there’s civil engineering, which directs its aim towards the project and the construction of public and private structures, such as roads, bridges, buildings, dams, etc.

In Portugal, one of the great constructions in the field of Civil Engineering is Madeira International Airport, also known as Funchal Airport.

It was successfully opened on the 18th of July, 1964 but its initially 1600m long runway has suffered some remodels throughout the years.

The first one took place in 1973 due to the growing flow of tourists arriving in Madeira, having been built a new terminal, capable of holding 500 .000 passengers each year.

Between 1982 and 1986, the runway was successfully extended to a total of 1800m and also four gates were opened.

However, the ultimate remodel, the one that makes Madeira International Airport so fascinating Civil Engineering wise, happened on the 15th of September of the year 2000.

This was a project designed by the Portuguese Engineer Seguedães Tavares, consisting on the expansion of the airport’s runway over the sea, reaching the 2781m of length, supported by 180 columns, each about 70m tall.

This piece of work is acknowledged worldwide and it has been awarded an IABSE Outstanding Structure Award in 2004 by the International Association for Bridges and Structural Engineers (IABSE), putting Portugal on the map as far as Civil Engineering is concerned and making Seguedães Tavares the first Portuguese to win the equivalent to an Engineering Nobel Prize.

Abílio Miguel Faria Freitas – 39764 – LC11D