In October 2010 work began on laying the foundations for a new Control Tower at Melbourne/Tullamarine Airport. Built by contractor Hansen Yunken for Airservices Australia, the new Tower will be located immediately to the west of the existing Tower, which was erected in the late 1960s during the original construction of the airport.

The photos on this page were taken on 19 October 2010 from the existing Tower balcony and show both the foundations for the new Tower and the crane used for construction. Note that the crane's jib is folded in half!

At 78m high, the new Tower will overlook the old Tower and provide adequate visibility over the airport, taking into account long-term future expansion plans in the airport's Master Plan. These developments include a new north-south parallel runway to the west of the existing runway and ATC complex - where the green fields are in the photo at left.

The new Tower is expected to be operational in 2012.