Streamlined New Baggage Handlers to Speed Travelers
By Tony Illia

Las Vegas' McCarran International Airport was the one of the nation's first large airports to rebound after 9/11. Fueled by a growth in leisure and convention travel, McCarran serviced more than 36 million passengers last year, making it the seventh busiest airport in the United States. The airport, through July, has seen a 15.2 percent increase in passenger traffic over 2003, hosting more than 20 million passengers.

"Immediately after 9/11 we were confronted by two primary but contradictory challenges: First, to work with the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) to meet the new standards of the federal security directives. Second, to implement efficiencies into the newly created procedures for our passengers," said Randall Walker, director of Clark County's Department of Aviation, which oversees McCarran. "Therefore we are implementing strategically developed plans to accommodate an ever-increasing visitor volume and the growing numbers of traveling residents."

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Flagship Construction Company Inc., Las Vegas, is installing a $125 million in-line baggage screening system at McCarran, that will reduce passenger wait times but still meet new security concerns. The three-phase, 17-month project involves the construction of a two-story, 18,000-sq.-ft. expansion north of A/B Gates Terminal and a single-level, 20,000-sq.-ft. addition to the south.

Both are steel-framed structures clad with a 1-in-thick insulated glazing and metal panel skin, housing a combined 10 Electronic Detection System bomb screening machines. The buildings sit on drilled caisson foundations, ranging from 30-ft. to 60-ft. deep and 6-ft. in diameter. The additions are serviced by two new chillers and air handling units each that are tied into the airport's central plant. Designed by Domingo Cambeiro Corp., Las Vegas, the buildings have a similar architectural theme that matches the airport's existing structures. The first phase also remodels the 15,000-sq.-ft. satellite cargo facility, creating new office space and adding two inline EDS machines.

The second phase entails a two-story 40,000-sq.-ft. stand alone Terminal 2 building housing more EDS machines. Similar to the A/B Gates, the second phase is a steel-framed structure clad with a 1-in-thick insulated glazing and metal panel skin, on drilled caisson foundations. The machines being installed use an ultra high frequency Radio Frequency Identification Detection (RFID) technology that helps ensure all bags are screened for explosives, a goal of the federal Transportation Security Administration. Similar technology is being employed by Wal-Mart and the U.S. Defense Department to track materials.

Matrics Inc., Columbia, Md., and FKI Logistex, Danville, Ky., have a $25 million subcontract to place tiny computer chips on outgoing passengers' luggage tags. Those chips identify which bags have been screened, their destination and other information.

John Shoemaker, Matrics vice president of corporate development, said McCarran will be the first airport to employ the system and at least six others are waiting in the wings.

"The system helps reduce "the incidence of lost or mishandled bags while ensuring screened bags are delivered to the right place at the right time," Walker said. Passengers won't notice the chips, but they could see a dramatic change from the current system in which a bag is checked at the ticket counter then carried by the passenger to the screening point. On average, 65,000 passengers are screened each day at McCarran.

The third phase consists of two standalone structures, totaling 130,000-sq.-ft. Located near the airport's central rotunda, the two-story 65,000-sq.-ft. steel-framed buildings have a metal skin paneling, housing 10 EDS machines apiece.

The project will use three separate teams for each phase, peaking at a total workforce of 500 people. Flagship will install 60 RFID and 42 EDS machines, plus 17,435 lin. ft. of conveyor belt driven by 1,847 individual motors. Scheduled for completion in September 2005, the project requires 200 drilled caissons, 9,000 cu. yds of concrete and 1,665 tons of structural steel.

"Much of the work had to take place at night in order to minimize disruption to the airport's normal operations," said Chris Anderson, Flagship's project manager. "Frequently, we would have only a four-hour window to perform all of our needed work."

The undertaking has 40 contract milestones with liquidated damages of up to $10,000 a day. Flagship is self-performing the drywall, framing, carpentry, painting and fireproofing. McCarran requires that bidders self-perform at least 15 percent of the work themselves, believing that it makes contractors more responsible. Bechtel Infrastructure Corp., a unit of San Francisco-based Bechtel Group Inc., is the project manager.

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