Heathrow third runway funding: geotechnical and phasing takeaways for engineers
Reviewed by Tom Sullivan

First reported on New Civil Engineer
30 Second Briefing
Heathrow Airport has approved funding to start detailed work on the planning application for its proposed third runway, part of a wider £4.9bn expansion programme. The move restarts design and consenting activity around new runway, taxiway and terminal infrastructure, including associated earthworks, airfield pavements and highway and rail diversions. For civil and geotechnical teams, this signals upcoming demand for large-scale ground investigation, ground improvement design on low-lying West London alluvium, and complex phasing to maintain operations at one of Europe’s busiest hubs.
Technical Brief
- Planning documentation will need full EIA coverage: noise, air quality, surface access, flood risk and ecology.
Prepared by collating external sources, AI-assisted tools, and Geomechanics.io’s proprietary mining database, then reviewed for technical accuracy & edited by our geotechnical team.
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