Everything is currently being prepared at the military airport of Melsbroek for the construction of the largest aircraft hangar the Ministry of Defense has ever erected.
Hangar, offices & storage
Mid-2020, the first new transport aircraft from the Ministry of Defense should be landing in Melsbroek: eight Airbus A400Ms that will replace the current Belgian C-130 fleet. The current warehouses are not adapted to the dimensions and type of maintenance activities the new aircraft need. That is why the construction of a new hangar is necessary. The construction of no less than two football fields (13,621 m²) large will accommodate maintenance of the new transport aircraft of Belgium and Luxembourg. In addition, the building will have two floors with offices, large storage rooms and parking spaces around and under the building. The infrastructure will be fully up to date with regard to the environment and energy efficiency.
A real challenge
The hangar will be constructed from a steel roof construction with a specific curved roof shape, referring to the old warehouses of the C-130. The entire roof structure with a span of around 75 by 185 meters will be attached only to the outside columns. This way, more space is created on the same surface: supporting columns in the central zone of the hangar will not be necessary. In addition, three hangar doors will be installed with dimensions of 57 by 18 meters each - comparable to the width of a football field. The assembly of these gates will take approximately four weeks per piece. The construction cost of the hangar amounts to 49.6 million euros.
Info market for the neighbourhood
Neighbours and locals to the airport have already been invited by Defense, Democo and the municipality of Steenokkerzeel to get acquainted with the plans for the first time. During an information market with various information booths, they also had the opportunity to ask questions about the construction of the new hangar and the operation of the 15th Wing Air Transport.
The construction of this warehouse is one of the most challenging works Democo has been engaged for to date. We are very proud to be able to help execute this Defense project.
