Tellumat Air Traffic Management (est. 1969) operates from Pretoria, South Africa and services civilian and military airports and aerodromes in South Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa. They specialize in airfield ground lighting.
Commencing in June 2016, Tellumat started a project based at the Port Elizabeth International Airport where they handled the installation of touch-down zone and centre line lights on the runway. Due to the air traffic, this project had to be done during the night, which in itself presented its own challenges.
Tinus De Bod, Senior Navaids Technician at Tellumat involved in this project explains the process that was followed to achieve this. “The process starts with core-drilling a 250 mm hole in the runway where the light would be chemically anchored into the hole. Following this, slots were then cut into the surface from the runways edge, to where the lights would be anchored by means of a 13 HP floor saw. We would then lay all the necessary electrical cables in the slots to power the lighting. The aim of this project was to improve the ground lighting on the airfield in order to utilize it more effectively – even in severe weather conditions”.
When asked what challenges were faced, De Bod raised two key obstacles that needed to be overcome. “Working around the air traffic to ensure continuity gave us around 3 hours per night in which we could work. Added to that, the severe weather conditions which PE is renowned for, we were certainly faced with our share of problematic moments. However, having the correct equipment and tools reduced any down-time we might have encountered and enabled us to complete the project within its allocated time frame.”
“Having a good partnership with any supplier, along with reputable tools and equipment, is key to any successful project. Some of the many reasons as to why we chose Diamond Products to supply the necessary tools, equipment and training is because they offer exactly that.” Concludes De Bod.
