The "white ball" at La Dôle in the commune of Chéserex in the Jura must be replaced after more than 20 years. To ensure that safety is guaranteed in the future and that the radar service for aircraft movements continues, the radome will be replaced during a period of about ten weeks this summer.
The white radar dome, the so-called radome, which protects the radar antenna of the Swiss air navigation service provider Skyguide from weather, will be replaced over roughly the next ten weeks. As the duration of the work also depends on weather conditions, the definitive timeframe for the renewal work has not yet been precisely determined, but it should take about three months overall. The existing radome will be deconstructed before a brand new radar dome of the same size and colour replaces the old one.
“This radome replacement in La Dôle represents a true technical tour de force from our colleagues and technicians as well as from the partner companies. Accordingly, we already started the preparations for this major project 18 months ago and planned and organised everything in great detail”, says Anne Barraud, project manager of the radome renewal in La Dôle at Skyguide.
The neighbouring radar installations will provide the necessary flight data to air traffic controllers during the entire work phase, so that air traffic control can be ensured at all times during the construction.
