Engineering the Relaunch of NASA's Historic VAB

Top Trends to Watch in 2015 — A view of a section of an existing assembly platform, prior to removal.

Image courtesy NASA

Remove and Replace

Before installing the new platform, though, it's out with the old. According to Starr, the entire process took about eight months. For much of that time, crews were upgrading the old platform system's structural integrity—a necessity before removing it in "chunks."

Installation of the new system, on the other hand, should be "a pretty orchestrated endeavor," Starr says. There are more than a dozen facilities manufacturing various components, with final offsite assembly taking place less than 30 miles from the VAB. Each platform half will be delivered to the site via flatbed trailer.

Currently, the team is planning on one to two days to set each platform half, with total system installation scheduled as a "roughly two-month process," says Starr. Final project completion is set for fall 2016.

Scott Judy is Deputy Editor for Regions, and editor of ENR Southeast, one of Engineering News-Record's 10 Regional publications. His roughly 27 years as a construction journalist began with an 11-year stint covering Midwest construction projects. In 2000, Judy helped launch the publication now known as ENR Southeast. He often delves into controversial aspects of the construction industry such as bankruptcies and fatal accidents, and wishes he would never have to cover another accident but suspects that he might.