With over 46 million passengers arriving in a year, the Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi is the busiest airport in the country. Not only this, it is also among the busiest airports in all of South Asia.
As the air presence in India began to increase with each passing year, the Govt. of India decided to restructure and upgrade the existing terminal facilities of IGI airport. The contract was awarded to Delhi International Airport (P) Ltd (DIAL) — a public private partnership led by GMR group.
The core aim was to use products of world class standards and make the project truly international in appearance, ambiance, functionality, and durability. In light of this, the terminal incorporated sustainable and energy efficient equipment and products to save energy and resources.
A glass and metal frame make up the structure of the terminal and the light orientation reduces solar gain and optimizes daylight illumination. The wide spacious interiors feature arts and graphical designs showcasing the culture of India. And with the allocation of about 20,000m of space for restaurants, cafés, food outlets and bars, passenger comfort takes centre stage.
As the design for the terminal came about, the installation of soft granite stone in Spider White was proposed. However, this soft granite stone was moisture sensitive and its proposed installation in a high level foot traffic area would be challenging.
This is because moisture-sensitive stone has the potential to change shape, thanks to a chemical reaction created by water interacting with the minerals in the stone. The stone can become discoloured and also changes shape, by curling or warping.
As it warps, the movement causes it to begin pulling away from the mortar bed. As it pulls away, it pulls off from the mortar bed in a move known as delaminating, resulting in bond failure with the substrate.
Stone tile that has changed shape cannot generally be repaired or reinstalled and loose/warped stones can break, or move, causing people to trip or inconvenience them in some way. To correct this, the stone would have to be removed and new stone reinstalled, resulting in wastage of resources.
As the Spider White soft granite stone was to be installed in high foot traffic areas and usage areas of the airport, these complications were to be avoided at all cost.
The benefit of prior successes in handling major airport projects across the world strengthened the MYK LATICRETE’s position. The MYK LATICRETE team helped create a new standard installation specification, which led to the successful installation of moisture sensitive soft granite stone-Spider White in a high level foot traffic and usage area in airport.
MYK LATICRETE system proposed LATICRETE 111 Crete Filler Powder mixed with LATICRETE 73 Crete Admix. This was used to produce high strength adhesive for installation of moisture sensitive soft granite stone (Spider White).
LATICRETE Latex Fortified Adhesive is moisture resistant, provides strong bonding with high flexibility and compressive strength. It is shock and impact resistant and is suitable for interior and exterior use.
As before, MYK LATICRETE executed the project with panache and its professionals once again proved that no challenge is too big to achieve and move ahead.
