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Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport has reached a key construction milestone in its expansion plans.
A joint venture between AECOM Hunt Clayco Bowa and the Chicago Department of Aviation began vertical construction at the airport in new 19-door, 580,000-square-foot Concourse Daccording to an April 23 announcement. The construction of the project is valued at 1.45 billion dollars, according to the statement.
As part of the scope of work, the new concourse will add new doors for narrow-body aircraft or single-aisle aircraft operating short-haul international flights and domestic flights. The terminal will also have the flexibility to convert 18 of these gates into nine to service widebody aircraft. Plans for the project also include more than 20,000 square feet of lounge space, 30,000 square feet of retail and dining space and a 450-square-foot children’s play area, according to the announcement.
Along with Indianapolis-based AECOM Hunt, the joint venture includes Chicago builders Clayco and Bowa Construction.
The construction team began work in August 2025 and has completed approximately 35% of the foundation work, according to the announcement. This includes more than 90% of the caissons, or large reinforced concrete shafts that are drilled deep into the ground for structural support.
Over the next few weeks, the team will install a 195-foot-tall tower crane in the center of the airfield to mark the transition to vertical construction of the 73-foot-tall facility.
Starting this spring, builders will add a central cooling facility designed to service all future developments of the ORDNext project, the the largest terminal expansion program in O’Hare’s history. Contractors will also complete airfield paving and utility infrastructure, which will support the next phases, according to the press release.
Along with Concourse D, ORDNext includes a future Concourse E and a new global terminal that will replace the current Terminal 2, according to the announcement. An $8.5 billion expansion of ORD was approved by the Chicago City Council in 2018.
The city anticipates that the airport’s construction and infrastructure works will create more than 3,800 jobs in constructionaccording to the city’s groundbreaking August 2025 press release.
The Windy City’s infrastructure push extends beyond the airport: Last week, the Chicago Transit Authority and the Walsh-Vinci Transit Community Partners joint venture began building $5.7 billion Red Line Extension. The 5.5-mile-long extension will extend rapid rail transit to the southern end of the city for the first time.
