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Dutch-Mexican Consortium Combines International, Local Experience

Maxime Sion - TASANA Consortium
Director of Operations of Grupo TADCO and General Coordinator

STORY INLINE POST

Wed, 11/01/2017 - 14:26

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Q: What are the main areas in which TASANA is focusing for NAICM?

A: The consortium was formed in 2014 in response to the bidding for the NAICM tenders. At the beginning, we carried out important tasks distributed according to the capacities and expertise of each partner. Depending on those tasks, the Netherlands Airport Consultants (NACO) defined the conceptual part and translated it into a preliminary project or a design-level development that Sacmag, as a company that is very experienced in engineering in Mexico, transformed into constructionlevel development.

Since the beginning, we have been a 50-person team in the main office with other staff working from different locations. Today, we have other associates overseeing technical aspects. For example, Sacmag still has about 100 employees working from its office in Del Valle, Mexico City, and NACO has approximately 50 people in the Netherlands. Each company has had its team involved at different stages of the project.

We are mainly in charge of the design. The companies working on NAICM are functioning as a complex chain in which Arup defined the masterplan and the master architect and master civil engineer worked on the designs. Based on this information, we developed most of what can be seen on NAICM’s current design plans, with the exception of the terminal, air traffic control tower and control center. Our design is planned around the several teams involved and includes runways, taxiways, aprons, AGL, navigation systems, administration and maintenance buildings, aircraft rescue and firefighting facilities, fuel farms and all related utilities and roads. The most challenging part was perhaps the commercial apron due to all the interactions with the terminal building with regard to the soil conditions. Other challenges, due to the soil conditions are the runways and tunnels for internal communications to ensure vehicles do not interfere with an airplane’s path. The technical aspects of the design were also highly detailed, given the level of specificity they required.  

Q: What challenges have you faced while working together as a consortium?

A: Dutch and Mexican cultural differences represented a challenge at the beginning but we all learned how to work together. We have a coordinating team comprised of about three people per company, which reaches consensus and then works independently with its own teams. This is the filter we have implemented for all the information to be properly communicated to the teams and the client. Also, we defined goals and duties at the outset to clarify which area is responsible for every task and implemented a specific time frame. We have been very strict with our planning and its corresponding deadlines, which we established before starting the project, and I believe this has been key to its success.

Q: What areas of opportunity have you found in NAICM’s tender process?

A: An area of opportunity that I perceive two years later refers to the fact that we were hired to work with certain concepts, including airstrips, platforms, electrical systems and so on. But afterward, we found that many of these are interlinked with other components. For example, it would be impossible to complete a tender for the runway without considering its sewage system. We had to integrate these concepts into our tenders, which took a lot of time. We could have avoided this delay by better defining the packages beforehand. I think the tender process has been transparent and well prioritized, but the number of companies bidding has undermined the possibility of speeding it up.

Q: What is the current status of TASANA’s work on NAICM?

A: We have delivered the designs but are still revising some of the packages that will be tendered next year. We are prioritizing according to deadlines. We are also participating in accompanying services, supporting construction processes by clarifying matters of design. These are our main duties in the current phase.

I believe NAICM is advancing well. Airstrips were the main concern from the beginning, given that the construction logistics for working on Texcoco soil are complicated, but I perceive a steady improvement in clarifying the whole process. We decided to use vertical drains combined with a preload construction, which allows water to exit and increases the consolidation of the soil under the weight of the preload material. Thus, the pre-consolidation of the terrain through preload, in a soil mostly composed of clay, enhanced its load capacity enough to prevent substantial movement of the soil.

Q: What is the added value that TASANA was able to provide to NAICM?

A: I believe we have a very important player in airport construction, NACO, which has impressive experience as well as local knowledge, which allowed us to prepare the most cost-effective proposal. Also, while we did not submit the cheapest proposal, ours was cost-effective. I believe those were the most important factors that convinced the authorities to choose our project. Also, we are always seeking to innovate and remain as current as possible. We focused on integrating the whole design. Arup delivered the masterplan in September 2014 but this plan did not consider certain aspects, so we have had to constantly adjust throughout the different phases. The year we have been collaborating together on NAICM has led to the creation of an improved masterplan.

Q: Would TASANA like to bid for another NAICM tender?

A: We would like to continue bidding and collaborating in NAICM, but we still have a valid contract for accompanying services until 2019, which will probably extend beyond. I believe it is better for us to focus on our current responsibilities. If in the future other design issues arise, we would be glad to collaborate. Also, we will continue to work as the TASANA consortium in any endeavor we pursue in NAICM.

Q: What projects are TADCO, as an individual group, planning to pursue in the near future?

A: TADCO designed the INE building. Previously, we were working on the rehabilitation of prisons in Mexico. We are also considering exporting TASANA to work in other port projects in Latin America, as Sacmag and TADCO have the regional experience, and NACO has the technical expertise. So, we will seek to bid for other airport tenders in South America.

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