In June 2009, TradeTarget, the representative of the German rubber removal equipment manufacturer Weigel Hochdrucktechnik for Spain, Portugal, Angola and Cape Verde, won its first contract in Africa, at Cape Verde.
ASA, the airport management entity at Cape Verde, has planned an expansion programme for S Pedro, the airport that serves the second largest city of that country, aimed at turning it from a domestic structure into an international one. Such an intention required a strong investment and extensive works, including revision of the runway markings' layout. It was necessary to demark the complete existent markings and then repaint again, enlarging the runway length and width.
One of the most recent TrackJet models, TJ-24, went from Lisbon to Cape Verde by sea, exclusively to perform this demanding mission of removing paint without damaging the pavement.
ASA was committed to use the very best technology available to save the relatively new pavement and to assure homogeneous results. The requirement of minimum manpower and logistics was also quite relevant, as several other jobs were being performed at same time and the airport never closed. Another crucial factor was water consumption. Cape Verde is an extremely dry archipelago and all water available is produced on desalinization plants with high costs per litre.
"Even with several difficulties as the water quality, the fuel quality and the high temperatures during the day, the mission was performed without one single failure from the equipment and the initial schedule was successfully fulfilled," said Ruben Figueiredo, the project manager from TradeTarget. "We’re pleased when the customer is pleased and these works were a great example of cooperation and coordination between all parts involved."
The job took less than two weeks, during which the operator removed paint of the airports traffic zones with a cleaning rate of 200m²/h-225m²/h. The 'new runway' gives S Pedro more opportunities as the direct connection of the island to Europe, and will certainly support relevant growth on one of the most important sectors for Cape Verde tourism.
Twitter