Integrated cabling systems from Lapp will help keep passengers and their luggage moving at Heathrow’s new Terminal 5 (T5).

Materials handling specialist, Vanderlande Industries, specified Lapp cables, cable glands and accessories for 30km of people and baggage-handling conveyors, requiring over 100km of control and power cables. As one of the few companies that manufactures its own cables, glands and connectors Lapp also provided complete, installation-ready solutions for the project – so saving labour time and costs on site.

Lapp also won the complete containment supply contract for the baggage-handling systems at T5 and were responsible for co-ordinating the supply of all electrical components required for the conveyor systems and power distribution between the new terminal and satellite building. Lapp appointed a dedicated team to co-ordinate orders and deliveries - and liaise with electrical sub-contractors on site to ensure the project ran smoothly and to schedule.

Vanderlande Industries specified Lapp products after stringent durability and fire safety testing on prototype sections of the specially designed conveyors. Cables had to be flame resistant, low smoke, halogen-free and suitable for medium mechanical stress applications. A range of flexible control cables from Lapp’s highly flexible ÖLFLEX^® range are being used in the conveyor systems, including ÖLFLEX^® H, which features a halogen-free, oil resistant and flame retardant outer sheath.

Lapp also provided cables for the project’s fieldbus systems, including UNITRONIC^® BUS ASI (Actuator Sensor Interface) cable. This halogen-free cable enables high-speed data and power transmission between control units and peripherals and is tested to five million bending cycles.

The contract also tested Lapp’s design and manufacturing expertise, with the requirement for non-standard cabling for power distribution in tunnels between terminal buildings. This posed no problem for Lapp’s special cable department which can vary core numbers, core size and inner or outer sheath composition to suit specific contract needs.

Cables are combined with Lapp’s Skintop^® cable gland, which can be perfectly centred, fixed, hermetically sealed and strain-relieved with just a single turn. Patented ridges inside the Skintop^® dome "click" as it is tightened and "lock" it in place, an especially useful feature for vibration-prone applications such as electric motors.

Lapp’s Darren Clark, who headed up the project management for Lapp at T5, says Lapp won the prestigious contract on product performance and also for its technical and project management expertise: "A contract of this scale demands suppliers that can meet a stringent specification and handle high volumes of product. We have also been able to offer Vanderlande Industries the benefit of a single supplier solution, which includes non-Lapp products such as cable trunking, trays and fixings."

T5 is a massive £4.2 billion development which is located on 260 hectares at the western boundary of the airport and is due to be opened in 2008. When fully completed, T5 will provide Heathrow Airport with the capacity to handle up to 35 million additional passengers a year.