Pudong Airport Phase 4 Expansion Scheduled for Completion by End of 2028

The Phase 4 expansion of Shanghai Pudong International Airport has reached a key construction milestone. On October 13, with the launch of full-element lifting works for the steel roof of the Terminal 3 (T3) international main building, the steel structure of the T3 international main building is set to top out soon.

The steel roof of the international main building uses 202,000 tonnes of steel in total — five times the steel used in the world’s tallest building, the Burj Khalifa in Dubai. The construction scale and technical complexity are unprecedented in the industry. The roof section being lifted covers 25,000 square meters and requires a vertical hoist of 16 meters, equivalent to lifting a complete roof the size of 60 standard basketball courts smoothly to the height of a 5-story building.

To achieve this, the contractor pre-assembled and integrated five major systems on the ground: steel structural frame, metal roofing, daylighting skylights, maintenance walkways and M&E trunking. The lift was executed using 39 on-site lifting points, 41 intelligent hydraulic jacks and a cluster synchronous control system, delivering millimeter-level precision.

The project independently developed two digital foundations — the “digital-intelligent synchronous lifting monitoring platform” and the “steel structure digital management platform” — providing smart control for the entire lifting operation.

The high-profile Pudong Airport Phase 4 expansion broke ground in January 2022, covering the T3 terminal complex, airfield facilities and automated people mover system. On July 23 this year, the final cast-steel bifurcated section of the “flying bird column” — the core support structure for T3’s iconic “flying bird” design — was hoisted into position with precision, marking the basic completion of the terminal’s core support system.

Upon completion by the end of 2028, the Phase 4 expansion will enable Pudong Airport to handle an annual passenger throughput of 130 million by 2030.