STANSTED AIRPORT TERMINAL EXTENSION – SAW CUTTING

Shepherd and Sons Contracting were proud to support civil engineering works at London Stansted Airport , working alongside Marriott Civils on a terminal building extension project.

Jordan Shepherd carried out a series of deep concrete cuts, forming channels, pits, and trenches to a depth of 300mm, ready for excavation. Using high-performance Diaquip blades and our Husqvarna Group FS 7000 D floor saw, he delivered timely results to meet the project requirements.

Operating within a live airfield environment required close coordination with traffic management and road sweeping teams to maintain a clean and safe working area at all times. With strict noise and dust control measures in place, the works were completed successfully and with a smile.

Channels, pits and trenches in an existing slab are formed by cutting first and digging second. The saw defines the edge, so what comes out comes out cleanly and what stays behind keeps a square, sound face to build against. Breaking out without cutting first produces a ragged edge that has to be made good, and on a slab that is staying in service it also spreads cracking beyond the intended line.

300mm is a working depth for a large floor saw in one or two passes, which is why the cut was specified that way: deep enough to release the section, shallow enough to avoid a change of technique to wire sawing.

A Husqvarna FS 7000 D floor saw with Diaquip blades. On a job like this the blade specification matters as much as the machine: the wrong bond on reinforced concrete glazes and stops cutting, and changing a blade mid-shift on an airfield is time nobody has.

Working within a live airfield environment meant close coordination with the traffic management and road sweeping teams throughout. That is not a courtesy. Cutting produces slurry, slurry becomes debris when it dries, and debris on an airside surface is a reportable hazard, so the sweeping is part of the cutting operation rather than something that happens afterwards. Noise and dust controls applied throughout for the same reason: the terminal next door stayed open.

This is concrete cutting in our aviation sector.

This was airside concrete saw cutting, delivered as part of our airfield surfacing sector.