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Best of 2006 Awards
American Airlines Terminal Redevelopment Program Phase 1 & 2
AWARD OF MERIT: Airport
 American Airlines finished opening the first pair of phases for its new $1.3 billion terminal at John F. Kennedy International Airport in Queens in May, a major milestone in a trip with many detours.
When the carrier based in Fort Worth, Texas originally started construction in June 2000 on what was to be a four-phase, 55-gate project, the team already had to figure out how to build a multiwing, 2.2-million- sq.-ft. complex while keeping all gates of American’s two existing facilities, known as Terminals 8 and 9, operational.
Site conditions posed additional hurdles, such as soft subsoils that required the entire structure be supported on piles, a water table 7 ft. below grade, and a plume of soil contamination that required remediation during construction.
Then, in the midst of an early stage, Sept. 11 unfolded. The airline industry reeled in the wake of the terrorist attacks, and American Airlines seriously re-examined its business, assessing whether it needed all 55 gates. Ultimately, the company decided to honor its lease agreement with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. But it reduced the scope, requiring a complete redesign, even as steel ordering and fabrication had begun.
“[The project team faced] challenging logistics and the fact that the game plan changed midway,” said one judge. The new design called for focusing construction on the center area between the two existing terminals and opening that portion for business in order to allow demolition of the old terminals and construction of the larger permanent complex in their places. The demolition constituted most of the first phase.
The primary effort of the second phase was construction of the majority of the main terminal and a connected support facility called Concourse C, all concentrated in the central area between the terminals. The main terminal links to Concourse C through a 320-ft.-long underground tunnel built at a depth of as much as 25 ft. below the water table, requiring the team to develop an elaborate system of slurry walls and grout plugs to minimize water seepage. The team still had to pump out thousands of gallons of water a day as work progressed.
The completed portions make up nearly 1.1 million sq. ft. of the 1.6 million planned for the scaled-down complex. An ongoing third phase will continue demolition work and finish the western side of the main terminal, making 36 gates available. A future fourth phase, not envisioned in the current budget and scope, would expand the terminal to 55 gates in about 10 years.
Key Players
Owner: American Airlines
Architect: DMJM Holmes & Narver; TransSystems
Construction Manager: DMJM Aviation
General Contractor Joint Venture: VRH Construction; Torcon
Landside-Utilities Design: DMJM Harris
Mechanical-Electrical Design: AECOM Austin
Structural Engineer: Severud Associates Consulting Engineers
Steel: Helmark Steel
Concrete: Peter Scalamandre & Sons
Plumbing: James McCullagh & Co.
Electrical: ADCO Electrical
Mechanical: F.W. Sims; Johnson Controls
Curtain Wall: W&W Glass Systems; Sota Glazing; Kenneth J. Herman
Fire Suppression: Sirina Fire Protection
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