REA Final - 22 Dec 20 - eBook - 1682 pages

The first new concourse also houses the new central heating and cooling plant for the new Terminal C, adds Steve Rice, project director for the construction management team led by STV Inc. and Satterfield & Pontikes Construction, Inc. for the first concourse, headhouse and roadways. Turner Construction joined the team for the second concourse. The conditions at LaGuardia are challenging for all construction crews not only because of live aircraft operations and a tiny “postage stamp” of a site hemmed in by water and highways, but because the site is located on a former amusement park and old ash dumping ground, notes Skanska’s Nilsson. “We encountered quite a bit of wood pilings.” Durney says that for Delta’s buildings, crews are installing 14-in.-diameter steel piles as deep as 195 ft for the buildings, and 20-in.-diameter piles as deep as 160 ft for the new roadways through landfill and riprap. Rice adds that the piles must not only support the buildings but help them resist negative uplift in a flood condition. “The building, if truly waterproof, will want to float,” he says. During the process of combining two former terminals into one, crews utilized a temporary 460-ft-long modular bridge provided by Acrow to get rid of the existing “spaghetti” network of ramps between the two, says Durney. “Then we could demolish all the ups and downs and gain that real estate.” Delta anticipates opening up the first major section of permanent roadway next spring, followed in a year by the headhouse and second concourse, says Marzullo. Work has accelerated by nine months on the third concourse, with a fourth also planned. Piles will be driven this month in the northern section of Concourse F, says Marzullo. In 2022, the last piece of Terminal B will open as well, adds Smyth. “Virtually the entire front of the airport will be wrapped up,” says Smyth. Delta will complete the last two concourses by 2025.