Thesis Abstract

Thesis Overview

<p> INTRODUCTION<br>The subject of airport passenger terminal building must involve a discussion of transportation.<br>Transportation has remained one of the most vital factors that influence the development of a nation. The credibility of this statement has been<br>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<br>current civilized world, one will discover that many of the great feats achieved during these civilizations would have been impossible without<br>one form of transportation or the other.<br>By way of definition; transportation (or transport) is the movement of people, animals and goods from one location to another. Modes of<br>transport include air, rail, road, water, cable, pipeline and space. The field can be divided into infrastructure, vehicles and operations.<br>Transportation is important since it enables trade between people, which in turn establishes civilizations.<br>Transport infrastructure consists of the fixed installations necessary for transport, including roads, railways, airways, waterways, canals and<br>pipelines and terminals such as airports, railway stations, bus stations, warehouses, trucking terminals, refuelling depots (including fuelling<br>docks and fuel stations) and seaports. Terminals may be used both for interchange of passengers and cargo and for maintenance.<br>MAKURDI AIRPORT TERMINAL BUILDING, MARKURDI, BENUE STATE 2013<br>2 PROJECT REPORT BY: KURE, JESSE DOT – ARC/2009/089<br>Vehicles travelling on these networks may include automobiles, bicycles, buses, trains, trucks, people, helicopters and aircraft. Operations deal<br>with the way the vehicles are operated, and the procedures set for this purpose including financing, legalities and policies. In the transport<br>industry, operations and ownership of infrastructure can be either public or private, depending on the country and mode.<br>Transportation can be broadly classified under three broad groups thus:<br>Land transportation;<br>Water transportation; and<br>Air transportation.<br>Land transportation is the most common and dates back to the beginning of civilization. Land transportation can take various forms, which are<br>dependent on the sophistication, stage of civilization and development, and on the technical stratum of the society in question. It can be by the<br>use of animals (camels, mules, horses, dogs, etc.) or by use of machines such as wheelbarrows, carts, cars etc.<br>Similarly, water transportation dates back a long time as humanity can recall. Water transportation, as land transportation, has also been<br>developed in complexity, technical superiority, and usage.<br>Air transportation has its origin in the 20th century. The superiority of air transport over the rest can be attributed the reason behind its<br>progressive growth and preference as the safest modern mode of transportation.<br>MAKURDI AIRPORT TERMINAL BUILDING, MARKURDI, BENUE STATE 2013<br>3 PROJECT REPORT BY: KURE, JESSE DOT – ARC/2009/089<br>1.1.0 BACKGROUND TO THE PROJECT<br>The airpot terminal is a building at an airport where passengers transfer between ground transportation and the facilities that allow them to board<br>and disembark from the aircraft. Within the terminal, passengers purchase tickets, transfer their luggage, and go through security. The buildings<br>that provide access to the airplanes (via gates) are typically called concoures. However, the terms terminals and concourses are used<br>interchangably, depending on the configuration of the airport.<br>Smaller airports have one terminal while larger airports have several terminals and/or concourses. At small airports, the single terminal building<br>typically serves all of the functions of a terminal and a concourse. Some larger airports have one terminal that is connected to multiple<br>concourses via walkways, sky-bridges, or underground tunnels (such as Denver International Airport). Some larger airports have more than one<br>terminal, each with one or more concourses (such as New York‟s John F. Kennedy Airport). Still other larger airports have multiple terminals<br>each of which incorporate the functions of a concourse (such as Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport).<br>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<br>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<br>Baghdad International Airport, are monumental in stature, while others are considered architectural masterpieces, such as Terminal 1 at Charles<br>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,<br>some examples being the terminal at Albuquerque International Sunport in New Mexico, which is designed in the Pueblo Revival Style<br>popularized by architect John Gaw Meem, as well as the one at Bahiasde Huatulco International Airport in Huatulco, Oaxaca, Mexico, which<br>features some palapas that are interconnected to form the airport terminal building.<br>MAKURDI AIRPORT TERMINAL BUILDING, MARKURDI, BENUE STATE 2013<br>4 PROJECT REPORT BY: KURE, JESSE DOT – ARC/2009/089<br>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<br>style architecture of the time. One such surviving example from 1940 is the Houston Municipal Airport Terminal. Early airport terminals opened<br>directly onto the tarmac: passengers would walk or take a bus to their aircraft. This design is still common among smaller airports, and even<br>many larger airports have “bus gates” to accommodate aircraft beyond the main terminal building <br></p>