2023 Yearbook of Engineering Achievement: Transportation & Infrastructure

Orlando International Airport Terminal C | HNTB Corporation

Orlando, Florida

Project Team: Prime Consultant and Architect of Record–HNTB

Schematic Design Architect–Fentress Architects

Low Voltage Systems Design Engineer–Burns Engineering

Airside CMAR–Hensel Phelps

Landside CMAR–Turner Kiewit Joint Venture

DBOM Baggage Handling System Vendor–Vanderlande

Start Date: 30 October 2015

Completion Date: 20 September 2023

Accreditation and Awards: Targeting LEEDv4 Campus-wide Certification

Background:  Orlando International Airport (MCO) is Florida’s busiest airport, serving 50 million passengers annually before projections for rapid growth driven by the city’s business growth and tourism.  The new 1.8 million square foot Terminal C facility addresses the challenges of rapid growth by increasing capacity while continuing to provide an exemplary passenger experience.  It features elements that maximize the safety, security, and efficiency of the travel process including 100 percent automated screening lanes, 100 percent facial recognition “e-gates” for international departure, an innovative landside terminal design, and 100 percent trackable RFID Independent Carrier System. Terminal C’s design successfully navigated an aggressive four-year construction schedule without disrupting airport operations. The project leveraged four alternative delivery methods including: landside and airside construction management at-risk, a design-build-operate-maintain baggage team, design-bid-build award contracts and multiple design-build concession/tenant packages. An ode to the region, the terminal is an architectural depiction of everything that attracts tourists to Central Florida. The terminal’s design captures the elements of water, foliage and sky with expansive glass skylights, terrazzo art interpretations of natural springs and incredibly life-like artificial palm and bald cypress trees.

Impact:  Terminal C at the Orlando International Airport is designed to be part of one the first LEEDv4 airport campuses, reflecting the airport’s commitment to sustainability and environmental responsibility.  The building’s strategic design includes a 35 percent targeted reduction in potable water use through efficient fixtures and equipment, a 25 percent targeted reduction in energy costs with a focus on thermal performance and optimal heating, and a 360-panel floating solar array to name a few.  Terminal C also has a tremendous impact on the local community by being one of the first airports to fully integrate multimodal ground-air-rail transportation, including rail to South Florida that is now in operation.

Technical Aspects:

• Aggressive four-year construction schedule to minimize disruption to current airport operations
• Virtual design and construction modeling identified potential risks before construction and avoided conflicts by allowing contractors to sequence mechanical, electrical and plumbing work in tight quarters
• Moving of 4,000,000 cubic yard of dirt and pouring of approximately 4.6 million square feet of concrete and asphalt pavement

Sunport Boulevard Extension | Bohannan Huston, Inc.

Albuquerque, New Mexico

Project Team: Owner: Bernalillo County, New Mexico Civil Engineer: Bohannan Huston and Molzen Corbin General Contractor: AUI Inc. Construction Management Co.: Bohannan Huston Structural Engineer: Bohannan Huston Landscape: Molzen-Corbin Geotech: Terracon Subsurface Utility: CobbFendley Environmental: Ecosphere Environmental Interchange Modifications Contractor: Star Paving

Start Date: 27 September 2021

Completion Date: 21 June 2023

Background:  The Sunport Boulevard Extension created a new roadway corridor between I-25 and Broadway near the Albuquerque International Sunport with the road of improving the roadway system and multimodal connectivity from the I-25/Sunport Interchange to Broadway Boulevard and Second Street.  Beyond boosting transportation connectivity, the project aims to enhance access to existing and prospective economic hubs, balance traffic, alleviate congestion by adding another link to the arterial system, expand multimodal options, and boost emergency accessibility.  The design was split into two portions: the I-25/Sunport Interchange Reconfiguration and the Roadway Extension from I-25 to Broadway.  The four-lane divided highway also features a protected bike lane, shielded from traffic with a concrete wall barrier. The design also incorporated bridge crossings: two twin single-span bridges cross Edmunds Road and a three-span bridge over the South Diversion Channel. Construction on the extension portion of Sunport went to bid in April 2021, and the new roadway was completed in June 2023.

Impact:  The Sunport Boulevard project is a much-needed transportation infrastructure solution that bridges a significant gap in the local transportation network, providing improved multimodal transportation options for pedestrians and cyclists while also easing traffic congestion and serving as a backup during emergencies or closures due to construction.  The project’s location crosses a superfund site, which made special drainage measures–such as realigning the groundwater remediation system while ensuring the treatment facility experienced no downtime.  Furthermore, the project included the removal of old remediation water lines in an environmentally-safe way, demonstrating that the care invested in design and construction will further support site rehabilitation to open opportunities for economic development along the corridor.

Technical Aspects:

• Revision of roadway section to include protected bicycle/pedestrian lanes based on community input
• Innovative bridge construction technique using a steel triangle and Kevlar straps, allowing one crane to pass a girder to a second crane while suspended overhead
• Reduction of construction costs through innovative design solutions

Velasco Terminal Berth 8 | McCarthy Building Companies

Freeport, Texas

Project Team: Port Freeport, McCarthy Building Companies, Inc., Moffatt & Nichol

Start Date: 6 January 2020

Completion Date: 28 April 2023

Background: Port Freeport, sixty miles from downtown Houston, is one of the fastest-growing ports in Texas and is undertaking expansion to handle an increased flow of goods. In 2020, Port Freeport hired McCarthy Building Companies as the Prime General Contractor to execute the Velasco Terminal Berth 8 expansion–a $129 million project which later grew to $140 million with the addition of a Roll-on Roll-off dock adjacent to Berth 8.  McCarthy first had to construct this project’s bulkhead portion, which was a critical component of the Freeport protection levee system and vital for flood control purposes. This infrastructure expansion doubles the capacity of Port Freeport’s import and export operations and allows simultaneous ship-to-shore operations of multiple post-Panamax ships.  With its new capacities, Port Freeport will continue to grow as one of the Texas Gulf Coast and National export and import industry-leading ports, and the Velasco Terminal Berth 8 project served as the catalyst to do just that.

Impact: Because the Velasco Terminal Berth 8 project site was located on the water, there were many environmental and spill prevention plans in place to prevent leaks from equipment, as well as debris from getting into the water. One interesting aspect of the project modified to allow long-term benefits to the area was the modification of the under-dock slope protection system. Initially, the plan was to place loose rip-rap rock on the slope to prevent material sloughing. After consideration from the project team, it was decided to utilize a fabric formed concrete mattress. This mattress, in place of the rip-rap rock, allows for more connected slope protection and prevents loose rocks from sliding into the dredge template. By doing this, dredging maintenance will be more efficient due to reduced debris in the template in the long term.

Technical Aspects:

• Combiwall bulkhead consisting of 171 plumb piles, 105 batter piles, and 148 pairs of sheet piles
• Vertical travel transfixed lead system to drive pipe piles for bulkhead, increasing producing and reducing material cost

Day County Highway 1 Bridge Replacement | IMEG

Day County, South Dakota

Project Team: Project Manager – IMEG, Steven Myer

Hydraulics – IMEG, Trent Baumeister

Designer – IMEG, Colin Kelley

Designer – IMEG, Joshua Prather

Construction Project Engineer – IMEG, Troy Nelson

Owner – Day County, Ben Braaten

Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate Indian Tribe, Cliff Eberhardtk

Journey Group (dba SFC Civil Constructors), Kyle Brockmueller

South Dakota Department of Transportation, Wade Dahl

Start Date: 15 August 2017

Completion Date: 18 April 2023

Accreditation and Awards: n/a

Background: The 74-foot single-span steel stringer bridge on Day County Highway 1 over Blue Dog Lake had faced flooding for several years, as the road is only two feet higher in elevation than the outlet of the lake.  IMEG initially conducted a hydraulic analysis, and a single-span concrete girder bridge was selected as the replacement structure, but, by the time the design was initiated, the site sustained back-to-back 100-year storm events that caused the lake to rise considerably–making the existing structure selection unusable.  IMEG reanalyzed the hydraulics and a four-cell cast-in-place concrete box culvert was selected as the structure.  Construction was completed over the winter season, from November to April, which created challenges with protecting the concrete during the curing process in extreme cold temperatures.

Impact: The road serves as the primary paved connection between City of Waubay and the Enemy Swim Day School District as well as several residences and small businesses along Blue Dog Lake and Enemy Swim Lake.  Because the bridge was prone to flooding prior to the construction of the box culvert, residents were faced with long detours around the lake to reach their destinations.  The new box culvert significantly improves travel times and accessibility for the community, and is designed so that the road grade can be raised an additional four feet to help alleviate flooding issues going forward.

Technical Aspects:

• Revision of hydraulic and hydraulic analysis to provide design for new equalizer box culvert to conduct water from one side of the road to the other and protect it from flooding
• Utilization of thermal concrete blankets to keep concrete above 50 degrees for three days and above 40 degree for two additional days