Integrator Evergreen will install a $A4 million integrated IP-based solution at Nadi International Airport in Fiji. The solution will incorporate AD cameras, a CEM access control system and a Wormald fire system, all supported by Tyco’s Victor management system.
FIJIAN integrator Evergreen Fire & Security Fiji has won another key airport contract in the Pacific Islands. The company has already installed integrated CEM and American Dynamics’ access control, CCTV and Wormald fire solutions for airports in Samoa and Tonga and the latest win, announced late August, is the largest yet.
Nadi International Airport is located on the comparatively dry, western side of Fiji’s main island, Viti Levu. Although it’s nearly 200km from the capital Suva, it’s Fiji’s main airport. Nadi International Airport handles around 2.5 million domestic and international passengers each year and over the past 40 years it has become a tourism hub in its own right, with many resorts on the coast near the airport, as well as among the nearby Mamanuca Islands and Denarau Island.
Nadi International Airport is also the operational base for Fiji Airways, the head office for the Civil Aviation Authority of the Fiji Islands (CAAFI) and the Maintenance & Administration Centre for Air Pacific. Given its importance to tourism, as well as to air services in the South Pacific, it was vital Nadi International Airport install the best possible electronic security solution.
“We are really looking forward to the challenge of a project this size, as well as working with Tyco Fire and Security. This will be a unique system for the South Pacific islands and Fiji”
According to Mike Jamieson, manager security Western Fiji at Evergreen Fire & Security Fiji, the tender process has for a number of reasons been a long one. All airport tenders are viscous in nature, thanks to a multiplicity of stakeholders. Fiji’s Nadi International Airport was no exception. First put out in 2005, the tender process picked up speed in 2010, when the International Civil Aviation Organization began supporting the process.
Mike Jamieson, Evergreen Fire & Security Fiji
“Now we’ve won that tender, we are really looking forward to the challenge of a project this size, as well as working with Tyco Fire and Security,” Jamieson says. “This will be a unique system for the South Pacific islands and Fiji.
“We start work on the project in September 2014 and the cyclone season kicks off in November and runs until May 2015, so that might be a challenge for Evergreen’s installation team of 15 techs.”
Nadi International Airport Terminal Building
The system being installed at Nadi International Airport combines CCTV, access control and fire. When it comes to specifics, the CCTV system will include more than 230 American Dynamics cameras, including 16 Illustra 625 PTZs, 12 Illustra 825 fisheye cameras and a mix of Illustra 600 camera variations to suit the challenges of particular locations. Handling the recording side will be 4 VE 4.5 recorders with 12Tb storage each.
The CCTV system is to be integrated with CEM Systems’ access control system via Tyco’s Victor management solution. The CEM solution will include more than 120 reader-controllers comprising 62 s610e Ethernet reader-controllers, 32 exit readers and 16 s610F fingerprint readers, which will be used for time and attendance.
Importantly, CEM’s access control solution incorporates visitor management, vehicle management, ID and badging software, check-in desk enabling, air bridge control and ground power control. This flexibility allows the system to be enhanced and expanded as Nadi International Airport grows. Along with CCTV and access control, Evergreen will also install a Wormald fire alarm and sprinkler system throughout the airport.
“We will install the new CEM and AD solutions in parallel with the existing systems and then cutover once we’ve completed all our commissioning and testing work,’ says Jamieson. “The basic same process will apply to the Wormald fire panels, though there is currently a mix of fire panels at Nadi airport that we’ll have to contend with.”
Inside the terminal…
According to Jamieson, Evergreen has gone with CEM and AD because the systems are built-for-purpose, capable and reliable, and have a great reputation. He says the ongoing support of Tyco is important, too.
“We chose the CEM and AD because these solutions are the best we have ever installed,” he says. “Our clients have been very happy with CEM and AD, too, which is obviously important. From an access control perspective, CEM is specifically designed for airports so it’s much easier to configure.”
As part of the contract, Evergreen has won a 5-year maintenance contract and Tyco will supply parts and service support through the term of that contract.
“Just like any airport, Nadi International is really a mini city and it has myriad requirements that demand flexibility in design and functionality”
Meanwhile, Tyco’s Scott Whitehead says his company got involved with the project around August 2010, when the ICAO issued a tender for CCTV and access control.
Tyco's Scott Whitehead
“Thanks to Mike Jamieson, we were able to build solid relationships with key staff at the airport, and we worked with Mike to demonstrate the system to all stakeholders as required,” Whitehead explains.
“On the back of the other projects we did with Evergreen Fiji, Mike preferred to use the CEM/AD combination – he has great confidence in the product. It really was a mutual feeling from our perspective. With the reputation Evergreen has in Fiji, we were confident of eventually winning the project,” he says.
According to Whitehead, the key for Tyco has been to listen to airport stakeholders and understand the requirements and issues they have.
“Just like any airport, Nadi International Airport is a mini city and it has myriad requirements that demand flexibility in design and functionality,” he explains. “Because our solution is full-IP across CCTV and access control systems, Nadi International Airport will have huge flexibility as it grows.
“We’re obviously very pleased to win this contract. From our perspective, what led to success was that we were able to design a system to meet a price point, to meet the requirements the airport has right now, while offering a solution that’s entirely future proof,” Whitehead says.
By John Adams
