Airport Business

MAY 2017

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May 2017 airportbusiness 9 LANDSIDE roadway but a future 1,000-foot-long canopy top. "We extended the main columns of the substructure unit up to support the future canopy, which will have a fairly significant wind load," Barber said. The bridge design ties into existing work and tran- sitions into new work and the elevated portion will accommodate a future ventilation system for pedestri- ans underneath. "HNTB did a good job," Christine said. "Their design was cost-effective and allowed for faster construction, despite the extremely confined space we gave them to work in." CREATING SPACE WHERE THERE IS NONE In winter 2015, construction crews began the daunting task of shoehorning the new two-level, 16-lane roadway and terminal curbfront into the airport's built environ - ment. The project is bordered on one side by the termi- nal building and existing elevated roadway, on another side by the new parking deck and on either end by the airside apron. It made for one of the most constrained construction sites the HNTB team has experienced. "The project is surrounded on all sides," Boulanger said. "We are building a ship in a bottle." "The challenge was making it all fit within the con- straints we had," said Eric Seckinger, PE, HNTB senior engineer. "Not only that, but making each phase of con- struction fit within a changing set of constraints." The elevated roadway had to meet the elevations of the terminal's existing upper and lower levels, which meant 14-foot clearance in which construction crews had to work underneath the roadway was tight – so tight, specialized equipment had to be brought in to pave the ground-level roadway. "We couldn't bring in traditional trucks that raise their bodies and dump the asphalt. There wasn't enough vertical clearance," Schiavone said. Instead, the team ordered specialized paving equipment. "The contractor used a typical paving machine, but they had to bring in a shuttle buggy and live-bottom dump trucks with conveyors in the bottom," Schiavone said. "The truck body doesn't have to raise but, instead, unloads through the conveyor." Just getting the large equipment to the construction site requires careful choreography. "Even something as routine as moving a crane is worked out with the Airport in advance, so we don't impact airport operations or inconvenience customers," Lebegern said. HNTB works tirelessly with the Airport and the contractor to identify slower days and times for material deliveries and maneuvering heavy equipment. "We have a staging area about a mile away from the construction site and at night, any time after 11 p.m. and before 5 a.m., we bring in our larger equipment and materials, so we don't disrupt Airport operations," Schiavone said. "HNTB has done a great job keeping the contractor on schedule, moving along and helping them identify the resources they need to stay productive," Christine said. "All that, from a construction perspective, especially, has gone really well. We are really happy with where we are." DIRECTING THOUSANDS OF PEDESTRIANS A DAY THROUGH THE SITE "The project is being built next to and over the top of customers getting in and out of the parking deck and in and out of vehicles at curbside," Lebegern said. "You add construction to curbside congestion, and you have to do a really good job of making sure you don't make it any worse than it already is." About 10,000 people a day walk through the construc- tion site on their way to the terminal or parking decks. "Getting passengers through our work zones safely and timely, so they don't miss their flights, has been the biggest construction challenge," Schiavone said. CLT, HNTB, and contractors carefully plotted con- struction sequencing and the pathways that would allow customers to safely find their way. "As we construct the roadway, we move the walkways in a systematic way, so the customer feels some level of consistency and customer service," Christine said. The team even developed a creative use for shipping containers, converting them into makeshift tunnels to give pedestrians protective passage through the construction site. READ MORE AT WWW.AVIATIONPROS.COM/ 12325092 www.aviationpros.com/10132772 Jody Summers is a freelance writer based in North Kansas City, Missouri. ABOUT THE AUTHOR "By the time we're all done with this and the terminal lobby expansion, the experience for the local passenger will be top-notch." JACK CHRISTINE, CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER CHARLOTTE DOUGLAS INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT

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