The first aircraft paint shop was launched in Lithuania
From 2021, Kaunas Airport operators can coordinate repainting and maintenance of the aircraft in one place. In winter, new MAAS Aviation aircraft paint shop opened next to the aircraft repair hangars. The general contractor for this facility was Agentus.
One of the highlights of this project is the location of the building itself. As the paint shop is located in the airport area, work processes had to be integrated into the existing airport infrastructure. Agentus as a contractor had to obtain permission to enter the construction site themselves on the first days. As work progressed, an uncontrolled area was set up on the construction site which freed up workers, construction vehicles and movement of machinery and materials. Of course, everyone used the same road as the airport, so to get to
the construction site was more complicated. There are rules in the area that everyone must follow, but during nine months of construction any problems or complaints about contractor didn’t appear.
“COVID-19 has reduced the opportunities for the customer to participate live in construction processes. Fortunately, we have considerable experience in working with Building information modeling programs. That helped to manage the project and communicate in a timely manner both with the customer and with all construction companies”, said Agentus executive director Darius Kvedaravičius.
Oversized structures
The aircraft paint shop is not only the first project of its kind for Agentus, but also the first such a building in Lithuania. “We, as the general contractor, curated everything – from design to construction project preparation, from obtaining a building permit to the construction of the entire building, and, finally, the commissioning of a building. We implemented everything that lay on paper, but each detail was substantially reconsidered two or three times until best, most optimal selections were made,” said Saulius Jonaitis, the head of Agentus.
Building an extraordinary, really large facility was a challenge for both designers and builders, but everything was implemented perfectly and on time. The spacing between the columns in the building is almost 42 meters, so one of the main difficulties was to install trusses and aircraft gate frames. The longest trusses were assembled in two parts, most of them weighed up to 25 tons. It was difficult not only to install them, but also to bring them to the site. Logistic problems had to be solved both for the delivery of metal structures to the construction site and for the reinforced concrete structures. The largest structures were transported at night. Non-standard size and weight the products required special machinery, permits and special access to the site. Moreover, the columns of the corresponding length could not be produced by all the factories in Lithuania, so the Contractor had to choose from a smaller range of suppliers.
Focus on the environment
The task of the general contractor was not only to build the hangar as a high quality industrial premises corresponding to energy class A +, but also to take into account the tasks of the activities carried out in the building. During the construction of the facility, great attention was paid to environmental protection. The paint shop is fully equipped with technologically
advanced engineering systems. Special solutions were needed for paint shop wastewater: certain chemicals are used to wash an airplane, also paints contain chemicals elements that must not reach either nature or urban systems. All technological wastewater of the paint shop is collected in specially equipped tanks and removed after each washing and painting of the two aircrafts. The wastewater is utilized in the designated places, only regular wastewater from office flows into the sewerage network of the city.
“Effective ventilation of the premises in the paint shop is very important. Much attention was paid to ventilation and exhaust air: 4-5 filter systems were installed, which repeatedly burn the same air until no harmful substances remain. All volatiles are collected by filters. Completely harmless and unpolluted air is released to the environment”, says Linas Ščesnavičius, project manager in Agentus. All other rooms – both paint mixing and storage – are also equipped with special ventilation systems that change the air up to 10-15 times per hour. In this way work safety and requirements of material storage are met.
The highest quality standards
Special attention was also paid to workplaces: there are LED luminaires installed especially suitable for the painting chambers. Furthermore, during the painting process an Ex zone may occur in the room. Lamps, sockets and all other electrical sources are specially selected for the facility to minimize the risk of electrical leakage or incident sparks. Everything in the hangar is maximally insulated and airtight, the building is completely safe.
The construction of MAAS Aviation paint shop expanded the infrastructure at Kaunas airport. The capacity of existing fire water supply network was insufficient, so an additional capacity of 300 m3 above-ground fire tank was installed. As well new ring fire water supply network with four fire hydrants, access roads and other airport infrastructure ensures the fire safety of the new building.
All MAAS Aviation paint shops are certified according to EN9100, ISO9001 and ISO14001 standards, and Kaunas workshop has been operating according to these standards since the beginning of its activity.
