Tucson International Takes Off
By Alan Petrillo

It's tough to live with airports and difficult to live without them.

At Tucson International Airport that image is changing, not only from the physical viewpoint, but also in the ease of consumer use.

The Tucson Airport Authority has been involved in an ambitious project since fall 1999 to update and renovate the 40-year-old facility, culminating with the current expansion of the terminal, which handles about 3.5 million passengers a year.

advertisement

Probably the most noticeable change at the airport is the addition of four barrel vaults that add 70 ft. in depth and 700 ft. in length across the front of the terminal. The total value of the construction at-risk project is $46 million.

"The most unusual elements of the airport addition are the canopies in the front," said Robert Tindell, senior project manager for HNTB Architecture of Los Angeles, the project architects. "It's quite dynamic how the canopies stretch out over the roadway."

Tindell added that the design was repeated in the roadway with smaller canopies extending out from the larger vaults.

Fred Friedl, project manager for the general contractor, Sundt Construction of Tucson, said the addition will provide 57,000 sq. ft. of new baggage space and 27,000 sq. ft. of ticket counter space.

"One of the requirements of the job was that we keep the airport operational, which is why we've been working on this project for 2.5 years," he said. "We expect to be finished early in 2005."

The work on the four barrel vaults was done in stages, with the two center vaults being erected first.

"That was one third of the addition, which we completed last October," Friedl said. "After we opened that part, we rerouted the pedestrians through the new vault while we demolished and then constructed the east and west wings."

Friedl said the east vault should be completed and turned over to the airport in October, while the west vault should be completed early in 2005.

The center vault is outfitted with four new tilt-plate luggage carousels. The east and west vaults will each contain two more new carousels.

Friedl said a new fiber-optic backbone to handle voice and data communication was installed in both the addition and remodeled sections, and that the older part of the building received six new air handlers and 250 variable- air volume boxes. The control system also was converted from pneumatic to direct digital control for more reliability and functionality.

Sundt also is constructing a 200-ft. moving sidewalk on the lower level to connect the east vault to the newly -constructed rental car facility, known as the RAC building. Tindell said the construction period was extended by almost 50 percent because of the requirement for the airport to continue to be open for 24 hours.

"Because of that requirement, it's impractical to remodel everything at once," he added. "So we had to build the central area like it was a separate building, and when it was done, we had to do it again for the two wings. This is typical of most terminal renovations."

When completed, a total of 88,000 sq. ft. of new area will have been added, and 75,000 sq. ft. of the existing structure will have been remodeled.

Scott Candrian, president of Sun Mechanical Contracting Inc. of Tucson, said it has been difficult working around an operating airport, "especially with all the security requirements you find there."

He added that while the work has gone smoothly, there was a considerable amount of coordination necessary in installing the new mechanical systems and connecting them to the existing airport building's older systems.

"The complexity comes in when you tie into existing systems," he said. "We had to maintain the heating and cooling systems, so as not to affect the airport operations. There even were a number of roof drains that had to be rerouted, but their integrity had to be maintained in case it rained."

Sun Mechanical upgraded the central plant, adding a boiler, chiller and pumps, and also performed remodeling work in the existing ticketing and baggage sections.

There was plenty of shift work on the job, according to Chuck Hughes, project manager for Wilson Electrics Service Corp. of Phoenix.

"It's challenging to work in a functioning airport and still keep out of people's way," he said. "We worked a lot of different shifts, but still wound up crossing into areas where people were doing their jobs. The scheduling was very important."

Wilson Electric added electrical service and elements in the new addition. It also reworked the existing ticketing and baggage claim sections.

Suzanne McLean, vice president of planning and development for Tucson Airport Authority, said the project is currently under budget and running three months ahead of schedule.

"This construction manager at-risk delivery method is a new experiment for us with a complex project, but we're quite pleased with the results," she said.

"There have been no disputes, no safety or security issues, and no public convenience issues."

>Big Numbers on a Big Job
>Streamlined New Baggage Handlers to Speed Travelers
>Tucson International Takes Off