(Eagle News) – International engineering firms which either built or designed world-class airports in the United States, France, Singapore and other countries have been tapped by San Miguel Corporation (SMC) to assist in the construction of the New Manila International Airport (NMIA) in Bulacan.
These firms are Meinhardt Group, the Jacobs Engineering, and the Groupe ADP (Aeroports de Paris) which built and manages the Paris-Charles de Gaulle, Paris-Orly and Paris-Le Bourget airports.
The Meinhardt Group is a Singapore-based engineering consulting firm focusing on infrastructure projects that includes among its projects buildings in Singapore, Australia, Vietnam, the United Arab Emirates, and India. It also served as the Structural and MEP Engineer for the recent upgrades at Singapore’s Changi Airport Terminal 1 and the Terminal 3 at Manila’s Ninoy Aquino Airport.
In its website, Meinhardt said that it has “provided structural, mechanical, fire protection, sanitary and plumbing consultancy engineering services for this new ultra modern NAIA International Terminal III complex in Manila designed to handle at least 13 million passengers per annum.”
On the other hand, Jacobs Engineering Group, based in Dallas, Texas, had also provided services for ongoing expansion and modernization of major airports such as London-Heathrow, Atlanta, Los Angeles, Mumbai, and the LaGuardia Airport Redevelopment Program in New York.
Raoul Eduardo Romulo, chief finance officer and treasury head of San Miguel Holdings Corporation, confirmed that these three international firms were tapped by San Miguel to help build the new international airport Bulacan
“SMC has tapped international engineering firms to assist in project development and construction,” he said during the Bulacan Investment Forum on Wednesday.
He said that the construction of the New Manila International Airport in Bulacan, “will raise the country’s profile and image as an investment and tourist spot,” he said.
The airport will be built on a 2,500-hectare area in Bulacan, adjacent to the Manila Bay.
He said that these engineering experts would also help SMC to make sure that the areas around the new airport would not be flooded.
Romulo said that some of these efforts include the broadening and widening of the Marilao-Meycauayan-Obando River System (MMORS), the stream of Malolos and the Tullahan River in Valenzuela City. Work on this would start early next year.
“We will not allow our airport to be flooded,” he said.
“In fact, as part of the project’s flood control component, it will have a 600-hectare water reservoir to absorb excess water,” he said.
Romulo explained that this will then be the source of NMIA’s water supply and that of the surrounding aerotropolis.
