Chiang Kai-Shek International Airport: The New Gateway to ROC

The newly completed Chiang Kai-shek International Airport, one of the Republic of China's ten major construction projects, was officially inaugurated on Feb. 21, and opened to scheduled flights five days later, almost four and a half years after a start on construction was made on Sept. 19, 1974.

The 1,200-hectare airport, located about 40 kilometers southwest of Taipei city, is the most modern air traffic center in Asia. It is divided into ten operational areas: aircraft operations, passenger terminal complex, control tower, flight operations, cargo terminal complex, aircraft and base maintenance, flight kitchen, fuel storage, airmail processing and telecommunication centers, airport hotel, and civic center and administrative services. In the initial stage, it will be used by 14 airlines, with 86 flights serving some 10,000 incoming and outgoing passengers each day on average.

In the first phase development plan, the grading, drainage and irrigation work designed to protect surrounding farmland is the only project that contains all three phases in its implementation. The runway is 3,660 meters (12,000 feet) long and 60 meters (200 feet) wide with an hourly capacity of 42 IFR operations. The total length of the Eastwest, North-south and speed taxiways is 10,700 meters. The five-story passenger terminal building, 198 meters long and 120 meters wide, with total floor space of about 160,000 square meters, and a Chinese architectural motif is the essential central building of the airport. The passenger aircraft aprons are located on both north and south sides of the main terminal building, having a total area of 302,100 square meters. The air cargo building, located next to the aircraft cargo apron, is designed with a four-story office building to house customs, air cargo carriers and an air cargo terminal with an annual air freight capacity of 200,000 metric tons. The control tower building, 46 meters high, housing a 10-story reinforced concrete structure, is the tallest building in the airport. It is the center for directing the ground traffic, remote control air navigation facilities and monitoring the operational status of air navigation facilities.

The CKS International Airport is 135 hectares larger than the Narita International Airport in Japan. It is not only the most up-to-date in design, facilities and techniques but the most economical in the use of manpower and finance. This is clear from the statistics, which show that the total investment in the first phase development for Narita airport was US$2.6 billion, while the CKS airport costs only US$286 million The construction of Narita airport was undertaken by more than 700 engineering technicians while the CKS had only 170 such personnel.

Although the three-phase development was designed by the Ralph M. Parsons Company of the United States, the construction of the airport was supervised entirely by the technicians of the Chinese Civil Aeronautics Administration (CCAA). For instance, in order to maintain flight safety, a practical terminal navaids system with Category II Instrument Landing System (ILS) operational standard including glide path, localizer, distance measurement, inner, middle and outer markers, compass locator, lighting, radar and link systems was established. With their past experience in the installation, alignment and testing, operating and maintenance of various navaids equipment, CCAA technicians were able to provide first-rate technical skill. Therefore, after all the equipment was procured and delivered, it was decided that the facilities for the systems could be installed by CCAA personnel with only a short period of factory training. Thus, the total cost of the navaids system was reduced by a wide margin, and the capabilities of CCAA technicians have been greatly improved.

Another incident that displays the undaunted spirit of the technicians is the establishment of the so-called "Apple Bridge" connecting the airport access road and the interchange of the North-south freeway. The completion of this bridge in June 1974 not only saved a total of US$1.4 million in construction expenses, but won wide recognition all over from the world. Since the freeway from Sanchung to Chungli was scheduled to open in August 1974, the bridge had to be in place before that date, which meant the CCAA had to finish the work within 280 working days. An American supervisor in charge of the construction of the freeway, argued that it was impossible since it had taken him about 600 working days to construct a much simpler bridge. He therefore put up a bet of two apples that the Chinese engineers could not complete the work in time--and lost. Construction of the buttresses, the bridge-span and finally the surface proceeded smoothly and was finished within the time limit. The supervisor lost his bet and the bridge got its name "Apple Bridge," symbolizing the technicians' patriotism, sense of responsibility and honor, perseverance and strong will to overcome all difficulties.

The opening of the new gateway to the Republic of China, as Premier Y. S. Sun said in his message to the inauguration ceremony, "increases our determination and perseverance in strengthening ourselves through self-reliance."

[Picture Caption]

China Airlines planes parked on the apron, and an overall view of the Chiang Kai-shek International Airport (right).

The five-story passenger terminal building and below, the official opening of the Airport.

Top: takeoff and landing by international airlines, and the control tower building (bottom).

The up-to-date passenger boarding area.

The bright new passenger terminal hall; the airline counter (below); the first passengers arriving at the CKS International Airport (right) and the moving walkway (below right).

A CAL plane taxiing to the wide runway.