Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA), the owner of Los Angeles International Airport, is in the middle of a $4.1-billion capital improvement plan—one of the largest public works programs in California. A key element of the capital plan is a $438-million replacement for the airport's central utilities plant (CUP). The massive new facility has the complexity, scale and scope to present plenty of challenges for the project team.
"There is something for every discipline: major operating systems, four electrical substations, miles of underground pipe and electrical distribution, seismic design and power generators," says Daniel McKelvie, executive vice president of transportation and aviation with AECOM's Los Angeles office. AECOM is program manager on the CUP project and also master plan designer for the entire LAX modernization.