The modernization of $ 1.4 million from a precinct at the busiest passenger airport in the world reached the half last month, with the tenth of 19 planned modules moved to its position. Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL). For the next two years, the joint company of building the construction of the headlining construction group, CD Moody Construction Co., Bryson Builders and the sovereignist construction and development will address the “traditional” construction built on the Artic at Airport D, which will be just as difficult in its own way.
The first set of modular movements occurred in spring and fall of last year, with the latter completed last January and February. The modules will extend the 60 -feet concourse width to almost 100 feet, will increase the height by 18 feet and Extend its total length to 288 feet, doubling the sizes of doors and bathrooms.
Each module travels approximately one mile of the modular patio, during the night, through the air field in self -propelled modular transporters (SPMTS) provided by Mammoet. The first set of modules was 29 feet wide, with the last four to 48 feet, according to Pete Pemantell, vice president of the holder. “They were also built with many more interior improvements” such as the dry board, the bathrooms and the lift axes. “The first were large empty spaces,” says Pemantell. While they were scheduled for one play a week, the team beat the learning curve and scheduled the second lot for two movements a week. “We learned the process and gained confidence,” he says.
The completed movements of the first 10 modules “are a significant milestone because it represents about 50% of the completion of the project,” said Frank Rucker, Deputy General Director of ATL Infrastructure, in a statement. “This is only phase 2. We still have a long way to go. It is a very complicated construction because we work with an active site.”
On and back
For the next two years, the expansion of the concourse d will pass to non -modular construction techniques to increase the height and width of the northern section of the Concourse. The sections of the existing enclosure will be closed temporarily to facilitate the removal and replacement of the roof, the ceiling structures and other essential components.
“We have added the” boxes “30 feet wide to the east, and now we are adding to the end of the enclosure to extend it,” says Pemantell. “When we finish this space, we will return to work towards the middle of the enclosure in a horseshoe sequence. On the return trip, we will build on the top of the existing room.”
Since the new heights of the module are more than that of the existing room, “we will install columns on one side and stock on the enclosure to join the modules,” he says. “We will encapsulate the building and demolish the existing roof and walls to the boarding level inside the shell of the new building” with robotic equipment. As the demolition progresses, the crews that make interior adjustments.
“The modules we have launched last spring serve as retention rooms now, but once we have built and west, the seats will be eliminated and [the space] It will be a traffic runner, “adds Pemantell.
Although the team had to ensure that at least eight doors were operational at all times on the north side of the room, it can demolish the south side to the rating and start with barefoot foundations, Pemantell says. When this work begins at the end of 2027, the remaining nine modules will be even larger, with a width of 96 feet.
Doing the case
The initial plans for the project led to the expanding of up to 105 feet, but maintaining as many doors as possible during construction and maximizing efficiency caused the idea of using modular, according to Ross Payton, director with Corgan, with which GOODE Van Slyke leads the design team. The creation of new concourse sections outside the site minimized the need to access the air field during the day, requiring security controls.
The ATL modular use follows that of his counterparts from Dallas Fort Worth and Los Angeles, but while the Los Angeles International Airport project added the existing concour modules and Dallas Fort Worth International Airport could completely demolish the existing building, “Here we provided [operational] Gates throughout this enclosure throughout the construction, “he says.
The global concept included an expansion of 31 feet on the east side of the building and an expansion of 10 feet west. The imprint of the building totalizes 211,000 square meters at the boarding level and boarding with an additional 20,000 -square -meter aircraft lounge at the roof level. When it is completed by 2029, Concourse D will have 34 new doors that host larger aircraft and provide 20% more of being in the maximum period, according to WSP, which together with joint members of the company HJ Russell & Co. and Turner & Townsend Heery serves as head of programs for the Athnext City of Athnext Program of Turner & Townsend’s $ 20 billion.
By the end of 2022 the team began to evaluate how to deliver the expansion of Concourse D, sAys Trevor Lee, project manager for HJ Russell. “We have not started this project by saying,” Hey, we make it modular, “Lee says.” We had to have our design team on board, we had to have our constructions manager at risk and we had to look at several different methods. “
All moving parts, including the busiest airport operation in the world, which is more than $ 350,000 in revenue per door, adds Lee, leading the team to start calculating how to operate better within the project restrictions, including the closure of only eight doors at the same time. During a planned period of 46 months, closing the entire enclosure could cost more than $ 400 million at the airport.
“We looked at the advantages and cons of each of these delivery methods, looking at the budget, looking at the calendar, the gaze of the phase and the reason why Modular emphasized, it was a business case,” says Lee.
The location of the modular construction site in the public part of the airport was also a strategic movement, which means that workers and deliveries of materials do not have to go through the normal airport safety, increasing efficiency. The construction of the out -of -site modules allows you to work in the module itself and the existing room occurs simultaneously, adds another impulse to efficiency.
For example, in the first phase, Lee says that the first delivery of steel was made on December 4, 2023, which began the erection of steel in the modular garden one month before the doors were closed and that the work of the Foundation began at the CONCOUSE.
The modular method requires that two construction sites be maintained: one where the modules are built and another in the room, occupying more resources. An additional permit is required with the FAA and the added costs include measures to secure the quality of third parties through special inspections.
Playbook Procedure
In preparation for the existing concourse to receive the modules, the modules and underground services were installed for the first time. Constructed by structural steel with isolated metal panel curtain wall, the modules were placed on top of the foundation slab. Services such as the supply of cold water, return pipes, electric work and the duct in the existing room from the modules, according to Lee, were sewn.
The preparations began four or five days before the day of the move, as the team made a breakdown of an hour at an hour of each task and who is responsible, from structural engineers to commercial partners. Both Lee and Pemantell call it “show”. Given the experiences of Lax and DFW, “we wrote our own book,” says Pemantell. “We deepened all the risks. Each movement had its own book. Each book had a calendar of events that had to happen.”
Lee adds that each movement began with a decision of “go, no-go” at noon. If wind speeds are more than 26 miles per hour or visibility less than 200 feet, or for other factors such as severe climate, the movement is said.
Before the time, the route was prepared to secure a gentle trip for SPMTS and the pre -protection tests ensured the conditions built before the base explorations and the position of the SPMTS below the module itself.
“It’s almost as if we had a command center here in the Mod Yard,” says Lee. “To ensure that we are all on the same page, [we’re] talking to each other in real time. Then we execute the movement. “”
Once the module begins, the email and text messages went out to update the stakeholders that are underway and another when completed. Representatives of each commercial and air operation walked with the module, followed by support vehicles and a sweeper.
“We had contingencies: to equip in hand, for example, if a module was hooked on a track, we could handle it,” says Pemantell. “We could demolish the module, load it and remove it.” Fortunately it never happened.
With the last of the first 10 modules moved, the foundation’s work will begin for the next set, for which the steel erection will begin in the second quarter of 2026. These modules will be moved at the end of 2026 and 2027.
The enlarged enclosure will actually have less doors (34 compared to 40), but they will be able to manage larger aircraft with 6,400 seats compared to 5,400, Payton notes. As the airport builders gain experience with the method, future modules could extend beyond 200 feet, according to him, noting that “the initial modular play was about 90 minutes. In the final, it went down to 45”.
