Nacala International Airport
Nacala, Mozambique
Award of Merit

Owner ADM (Aeroportos de Moçambique EP)
Contractor Odebrecht Engineering & Construction International
Lead Designer Figueiredo Ferraz Consultoria e Engenharia de Projeto SA
Structural, Civil and MEP Engineer Figueiredo Ferraz Consultoria e Engenharia de Projeto SA

Located in Northern Mozambique, the city of Nacala has become a hub for importing and exporting goods, making an adequate airport vital to the city. The new Nacala International Airport, the first greenfield airport to be built in the country since its independence in 1975, was built to fill this need.

The project features a 15,000-sq-meter passenger terminal able to hold 500,000 passengers per year and a cargo terminal that can handle 5,000 tons per year. Additional features include a 30-m-high air traffic control tower and all infrastructure necessary for electrical power, water, sewage and drainage, access roads and parking lots. The air side includes a new 3,100-m-long runway.

“Mozambique, as a developing country, has not enough skilled labor or service providers for most specialties required to build an airport,” says Jorge Manuel da Rocha Maltezinho, engineering manager at Odebrecht Enineering & Construction International, the project’s EPC contractor. “This required the development of partnerships with specialized subcontractors from multiple origins, mainly from Brazil, Portugal, South Africa and Spain, as well as a comprehensive training program for the development of local labor.”

The construction team included workers from seven different nationalities. The airport is Mozambique’s second largest in passenger-handling capacity and its first to be internationally certified and licensed by the International Civil Aviation Organization.

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