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MAKURDI AIRPORT TERMINAL BUILDING, MAKURDI, BENUE STATE

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1     BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY

The subject of airport passenger terminal building must involve a discussion of transportation. Transportation has remained one of the most vital factors that influence the development of a nation. The credibility of this statement has been proven over the centuries, that if one decides to take a critical look at earlier civilizations, from the time of early Egyptian civilization to the current civilized world, one will discover that many of the great feats achieved during these civilizations would have been impossible without one form of transportation or the other.

By way of definition; transportation (or transport) is the movement of people, animals and goods from one location to another. Modes of transport include air, rail, road, water, cable, pipeline and space. The field can be divided into infrastructure, vehicles and operations. Transportation is important since it enables trade between people, which in turn establishes civilizations. Transport infrastructure consists of the fixed installations necessary for transport, including roads, railways, airways, waterways, canals and pipelines and terminals such as airports, railway stations, bus stations, warehouses, trucking terminals, refueling depots (including fueling docks and fuel stations) and seaports. Terminals may be used both for interchange of passengers and cargo and for maintenance.

Vehicles travelling on these networks may include automobiles, bicycles, buses, trains, trucks, people, helicopters and aircraft. Operations deal with the way the vehicles are operated, and the procedures set for this purpose including financing, legalities and policies. In the transport industry, operations and ownership of infrastructure can be either public or private, depending on the country and mode. Transportation can be broadly classified under three broad groups thus: Land transportation; Water transportation; and Air transportation. Land transportation is the most common and dates back to the beginning of civilization. Land transportation can take various forms, which are dependent on the sophistication, stage of civilization and development, and on the technical stratum of the society in question. It can be by the use of animals (camels, mules, horses, dogs, etc.) or by use of machines such as wheelbarrows, carts, cars etc. Similarly, water transportation dates back a long time as humanity can recall. Water transportation, as land transportation, has also been developed in complexity, technical superiority, and usage. Air transportation has its origin in the 20th century. The superiority of air transport over the rest can be attributed the reason behind its progressive growth and preference as the safest modern mode of transportation.

The airport terminal is a building at an airport where passengers transfer between ground transportation and the facilities that allow them to board and disembark from the aircraft. Within the terminal, passengers purchase tickets, transfer their luggage, and go through security. The buildings that provide access to the airplanes (via gates) are typically called concourse. However, the terms terminals and concourses are used interchangeably, depending on the configuration of the airport.

Smaller airports have one terminal while larger airports have several terminals and/or concourses. At small airports, the single terminal building typically serves all of the functions of a terminal and a concourse. Some larger airports have one terminal that is connected to multiple concourses via walkways, sky-bridges, or underground tunnels (such as Denver International Airport). Some larger airports have more than one terminal, each with one or more concourses (such as New York’s John F. Kennedy Airport). Still other larger airports have multiple terminals each of which incorporate the functions of a concourse (such as Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport).

According to Frommers, most airport terminals are built in a plain style, with the concrete boxes of the 1960s and '70s generally gave way to glass boxes in the '90s and '00s, with the best terminals making a vague stab at incorporating ideas of light and air. However, some, such as Baghdad International Airport, are monumental in stature, while others are considered architectural masterpieces, such as Terminal 1 at Charles de Gaulle Airport near Paris or Terminal 5 at New York's John F. Kennedy Airport. A few are designed to reflect the culture of a particular area, some examples being the terminal at Albuquerque International Sunport in New Mexico, which is designed in the Pueblo Revival Style popularized by architect John Gaw Meem, as well as the one at Bahiasde Huatulco International Airport in Huatulco, Oaxaca, Mexico, which features some palapas that are interconnected to form the airport terminal building.

Due to the rapid rise in popularity of passenger flight, many early terminals were built in the 1930s–1940s and reflected the popular art deco style architecture of the time. One such surviving example from 1940 is the Houston Municipal Airport Terminal. Early airport terminals opened directly onto the tarmac: passengers would walk or take a bus to their aircraft. This design is still common among smaller airports, and even many larger airports have "bus gates" to accommodate aircraft beyond the main terminal building.

1.2 STATEMENT OF ARCHITECTURAL PROBLEM

A functional airport passenger terminal is meant to ease the stress encountered by air passengers during the process of air travel. Therefore, the architectural problem of the project is how best to provide an aesthetically pleasant, efficient, economical, bigger and more modern domestic airport passenger terminal, with good flexibility and expansion capabilities, to replace the outdated and small existing airport terminal at Makurdi for Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN).

1.3  AIMS

The primary aims/goals of the design are as follows: to provide/design a suitable passenger terminal building in the Makurdi Airport which would portray a good image of Benue State to provide a passenger terminal building as well as other auxiliary facilities with the necessary tools requisite for air transportation activities as well as upgrade the economic facet of Makurdi city. to ensure these facilities will streamline the productivity in the airport without interruption or interference from each other or any source; and to provide a design that will adequately contain all the kinds of functions and activities associated with air travel to be carried out in the airport which will be expanded for this purpose.

1.4 OBJECTIVES

The principal objective of this project is to provide Makurdi Airport with a ultra-modern, befitting and function passenger airport terminal building which has been badly absent since the construction of that airport and also to upgrade the landscape around it and prescribe other salient facilities which have been omitted. In appreciation of the particular demands of the project, I opt; To situate the structure in an ideal location that easily catches eye sight from around the environment and can be easily accessible to staff, air travelers, as well as visitors; To ensure good road network that create easy flow of vehicular and human traffic; To consider the environmental consequences as far as they are not a detriment to the proposed development. To minimize costs by putting construction techniques, and employing materials within the level of technology that is commensurate with our national aspiration. To ensure flexibility and adaptability for future changes in use of facilities or space; To ensure efficient security within and around the facility premises; To ensure the terminal building, the parking lots and other auxiliary facilities are strategically placed for easy accessibility from one to the others;

1.5 RESEARCH METHODOLGY

The required information for proper planning and design of a domestic passenger terminal that will raise the quality and standard of the Makurdi Airport will be obtained through questionnaire; direct interviews with personnel or representatives of existing airports in Nigeria which basically are FAAN officials, porters on the airport grounds and locals residing around the airport vicinity, case studies, library research, and internet surfing. The emerging ideas and opinions or results are manually organized. On site physical survey will reveal the statistical information inherent of the site venue and will be gainfully utilized.

1.6 PROJECT MOTIVATION

The Federal Government of Nigeria has, in recent times, moved a motion for the rebranding of the Aviation Industry to upgrade the facilities within airports owned by the Federal Government as well as check the activities of private parastatals within the Aviation Industry. Previously, the airports in the Federation have been either dilapidated or grounded that no aviation activities take place in such airports. It is to this end that the Federal Government has moved to build or renovate existing terminal facilities in the airports within the federation listed below: Enugu Airport (re-christened Akanu Ibiam International Airport), Enugu, Enugu State; Gen. Yakubu Gowon Airport, Jos, Plateau State; Nnamdi 999Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, Federal Capital Territory; Sam Mbakwe Airport, Owerri, Imo State; Makurdi Airport, Makurdi, Benue State.

1.7 SCOPE AND LIMITATION OF THE PROJECT

This scope of this thesis is restricted to the passenger terminal building within the airport and NOT the entire airport as a whole. This is to say that the work involves the only the landside of the airport (and not the airside) which includes the terminal building and auxiliary (supporting) facilities within the landside premises. These are briefly listed below:

Exterior elements: Terminal building; Well-defined road network; Parking lots; Signs; Fire station; Motel;

Terminal building: Entrance hall; Departure lounge; Arrivals lounge; Customs and Immigration; Baggage reclaim hall; Outbound baggage hall; Shops and snack bars; Conveniences; Supporting office spaces.

1.8 PROJECT JUSTIFICATION

The passenger terminal building is chosen and located in the Makurdi Airport premises, which is a domestic airport in Makurdi, Benue State, for the following reasons: The existing terminal building on the site is small and outdated; Aviation prospects in the state of project location is terribly poor; The existing facility has no provision for future expansion.

1.9 RELEVANCE OF PROJECT

This research will help to contribute and extend the frontiers of knowledge in the academic development of aviation architecture. It also exposes all aspects of professional details and necessary techniques of scientific investigation in this field. In other words, this guide provides the basic criteria to organize, evaluate, plan, programme and design airport terminal facilities. The information presented is intended to make researchers aware of important design considerations and to aid them in project development.