Airside Works

All use of cranes at and within a radius of 5 km from Oslo Airport must be notified to and approved by Avinor.

Avinor employees

Avinor employees and contractors with access to Avinor's intranet are referred to procedure IN01474 Airside safety - Crane notification in the SMART management system for information the application process.

External parties

Fill out the crane application form and send it to APOC Infrastructure via email apoc.infrastructure@avinor.no no later than 20 working days before the lifting operation. Shorter deadlines may be accepted in special cases. Please note that the application form is in Norwegian language only.

Information on regulations for reporting, registration, and marking of aviation obstacles can be found on the Civil Aviation Authority's website.

Assessment

A crane application to Avinor is assessed based on four factors:

Obstacle surfaces

• In the airport's certificate issued by the Civil Aviation Authority, Avinor is obligated to ensure that no obstacles penetrate the obstacle limitation surfaces specified in the EASA Certification Specifications and Guidance Material for Aerodrome Design (CS-ADR-DSN) Chapter H — Obstacle Limitation Surfaces.
• The extent of the obstacle surfaces varies depending on the length of the runway and the approach category. The most important surfaces for Oslo Airport are:
  • Transitional surface: This starts 140 meters from the runway centerline and rises at a gradient of 14.3% (1:7) until it intersects the horizontal surface at 253 meters above mean sea level (AMSL). The height at the starting point is the height at the nearest point on the runway centerline.
  • Inner horizontal surface: A large surface located at 253 meters AMSL above the airport with a radius of 4 km. It extends 60 meters beyond each landing threshold.
  • Approach surface: Starts 60 meters beyond the landing threshold and rises at a gradient of 2% (1:50).
  • Take-off climb surface: Starts 60 meters beyond the runway end (at Oslo Airport, the runway end coincides with the landing threshold) and rises at a gradient of 2% (1:50). However, at the south end of the east runway, the take-off climb surface starts 400 meters south of the runway end due to a clearway.
• The obstacle surfaces outlined for Oslo Airport can be found here (you can disregard the surfaces related to the third runway regarding temporary crane usage, but not permanent structures).

Approach and departure procedures

• Based on the crane application, Avinor will make an assessment of whether the planned crane activities penetrates the aircraft's approach and departure procedures.

Ground radar

• A crane will almost always cause "interference" with ground radar systems as radar beams are reflected by metal surfaces. The concern with ground radar is primarily false radar detections, i.e., radar reflections from the crane that appear, for example, on the runway. This can cause alarms in the control tower and is very problematic during low visibility operations as the air traffic controller cannot visually confirm whether there is an actual object on the runway or just a false radar detection.
• Cranes lifting large objects can also cause radar shadows, which is undesirable during poor weather conditions.

Flight navigation equipment

• Avinor assesses whether the crane conflicts with the restricted areas specified in the Regulation on Aeronautical Navigation Services (BSL G 6-1). In case of a conflict, a request will be sent to Avinor's Air Traffic Services Technical Center in Asker for simulation to determine if crane usage can still be allowed with certain conditions. The cost of such simulation is billed the applicant.
• The restricted areas for flight navigation equipment at Oslo Airport are outlined here (you can disregard the surfaces related to the third runway regarding temporary crane usage, but not permanent structures).

Alternative solutions

If the requested crane usage is deemed to be in conflict with at least one of the above factors, Avinor will strive to propose a solution to still allow the lift to proceed. This could include:

• Using a smaller crane
• Using a different type of crane
• Applying for an exemption from the Civil Aviation Authority
• Conducting the lift during nighttime after coordination with Oslo Airport
• Implementing mitigating measures