Extension to Frankfurt Airport – New Terminal 3

Frankfurt Airport has been steadily growing alongside the Rhine-Main region for more than 75 years. 2005 saw the military use of the Rhein-Main Air Base in the southern part of the airport decommissioned before responsibility was transferred to the airport operator, Fraport AG. The old installations needed to yield to the new Terminal 3 and extensions to the airport infrastructure in this area. As part of the demolition process, CDM Smith was commissioned with contamination studies on a total of 175 buildings as well as various sealed surfaces and underground pipes. We carried out environmental, waste and geotechnical studies on soil and groundwater, which included 33 core holes drilled down to a depth of 40 m.

For the new Terminal 3, a shallow foundation was  implemented according to our recom­men­da­tions. For the longi­tu­di­nal approach table, a pile foundation was implemented according to the results of horizontal pile test loads and extensive 3-dimensional deformation calcu­la­tions. The excavation pit for the terminal was constructed in two phases. First, the excavators worked their way down to the groundwater zone at a depth of 5.5 m in dry excavation over an area of 65,000 m². The final excavation depth in the groundwater zone had been reached under the protection of sheet pile shoring.


During the extensive sampling of the excavated soil, residues of the substance group of per- and poly­flu­o­ri­nated chemicals (PFC) or per- and poly­flu­o­ri­nated alkyl compounds - PFAS for short - were detected. Fraport commis­sioned CDM Smith to develop a soil management concept for Terminal 3, the aim of which is to recycle a large part of the cont­a­m­i­nated soil material in accordance with the require­ments of the remediation notice issued by the Regional Council or to dispose of excess excavated soil: CDM Smith controled and monitored this soil management. CDM Smith has planned an appropriate soil storage facility for the temporary storage of the excavated soil.

Following the site inves­ti­ga­tion, the soil material was analysed and residues of Per- and Poly­flu­o­roalkyl Substances (PFAS) were detected. Fraport then commis­sioned CDM Smith to develop a soil management strategy for Terminal 3. The objective of this was to ensure that as much as possible of the cont­a­m­i­nated soil material would be recycled, in accordance with regional guidelines. Furthermore, any material to be taken off site would be dealt with in an envi­ron­men­tally safe manner. As an interim measure, the excavated soil is being temporarily stored safely at a storage facility on site. CDM Smith provieded planning and monitoring services associated with this work. We were also responsible for construc­tion supervision to ensures that the soil separation is undertaken in an envi­ron­men­tally safe manner, in addition to developing occu­pa­tional safety instruc­tions for handling the cont­a­m­i­nated soil material.

At that time, there were no national regulations for the handling of soil cont­a­m­i­nated with PFAs and there were relatively few precedents for soil recycling. Our experts were also supporting Fraport in nego­ti­a­tions regarding this complex issue with the relevant authorities.