Teamwork
Builds DFW's Terminal D
Structure of $1 billion terminal
building now substantially complete
Construction on Dallas / Fort Worth International Airport's
$1.07 billion Terminal D, which began in 2000 but was in planning
stages years before that, is substantially complete.
In September, work continued on skin, roofing and dry-in activities.
Crews were working on the parking garage structure and starting
the skin. Roadways remained in structural stages.
"The Airport Development Team is the biggest success,"
said Tom Skinner, project manager for the Terminal D program
for managing general contractor Austin Commercial of Dallas.
"The pure massiveness of trying to coordinate a terminal
program, a roadway system, an upgrade to a central utility
plant and a hotel that's imbedded in a terminal has been the
biggest challenge we have had."
The development team, established in 1990, included more than
53 architectural and engineering firms. Corgan Associates,
Dallas, is the architect of record. HKS Inc. serves as the
lead managing architect. HNTB Corp. was involved in the design
process. All are based in Dallas.
Austin received a negotiated guaranteed maximum price contract
for the Terminal D program. Value engineering has continued
throughout the project.
"We were integrated and working together, looking at
construction methods, materials, sequencing of the work,"
and from early on, said Clay Paslay, executive vice president
for airport development at DFW.
Paslay said the project remains on target for its original
completion date in 2005 and within its original budget.
The fast track, design-build Terminal D project includes a
2 million-sq.-ft. terminal, an 8,100-space parking facility,
three levels of roadways and related ramps. The terminal is
a hybrid structure with cast-in-place concrete and structural
steel. It has a federal inspection facility capable of processing
2,800 international passengers per hour.
The structure has seven levels divided by activities and 23
swing gates able to handle wide- or narrow-body aircraft.
In addition, Austin is integrating a 298-room Grand Hyatt
hotel into the structure. The $58.4 million hotel project
received separate funding.
DFW Airport will own the 12-level hotel, and Hyatt Hotels
Corp. of Chicago will manage it. Rooms will rise above the
terminal with a ballroom and meeting space below it. The ceilings
in the basement level are 19 ft. high, with a large clear
span.
Austin put together designated work groups for each aspect
of the terminal project.
The groups meet weekly, and a representative from each meets
with upper management. All key decision makers - contractors,
owner and major subcontractors - are located in a field office
at the airport.
DFW Airport invested in a communication network and common
software for budgeting, scheduling and project management
and other tasks.
"There was a lot of upfront planning and upfront investment
made to create a project management that kept everybody co-located
and on the same communication platforms," Paslay said.
"Everyone has been on the same sheet of music, if you
will.
And that has helped dramatically as we move forward through
this process."
Before starting construction, the development team investigated
and put in place logistical and operational systems to manage
the program with minimal disruption of airport operations.
The airport established a roadway management plan to keep
people accessing the existing terminals separate from construction
activities.
Due to concerns about hydrocarbons associated with jet fuels
polluting the environment, DFW Airport established >>
a soil-testing program. Any dirt removed is checked, inventoried
and tracked. Depending on readings, the soil may be sent for
treatment or reuse.
Austin built a major underground storm-drain system to handle
water. The 90- to 130-in pipe tunnels for a couple of miles
underneath taxiways and adjacent to runways.
Crews use manhole locations to push pipe into place between
the manholes.
Terminal D construction was under way when the Sept. 11, 2001,
terrorism attacks occurred, and afterwards designers made
substantial structural and system changes.
"Austin and its team did a yeoman's job of integrating
those structural design changes in the midst of construction,"
Paslay said. "It does impact your flow of work and packaging
strategy, but it has been fluid enough and dynamic enough
that we were able to accommodate those changes without too
much of an impact to the project."
About 1,700 craftspeople and 350 administrative people work
onsite daily. Austin has more than 200 subcontractors.
Airport officials instituted many unique programs to facilitate
on-time completion of the enormous undertaking. The owner
purchased insurance for the entire program, including professional
service insurance, and saved money by rolling coverage for
all of the projects together.
Everyone entering the site must complete a 40-hr. session
that includes first aid and learning English and Spanish words
for basic construction terminology.
"It was a conscious investment on our part, but I think
we are seeing great dividends," Paslay said. "Our
lost-time ratio to date is 0.5 versus a national average of
3.9. Small and emerging contractors, who do not have the where-withal
to develop safety training programs of that nature, are now
exposed to world-class training."
A subcontractor working at a different Austin project saved
a co-worker's life by quickly starting to perform cardiopulmonary
resuscitation he learned during a DFW training session.
Paslay said he expects some of the unique elements implemented
on this job will be incorporated by other governmental aviation
entities as major U.S. airports move forward with expansions.
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