Airport/Transit Award of Merit: San Ysidro U.S. Land Port of Entry
More than 100,000 people cross the U.S.-Mexico border daily at the world’s busiest land port of entry in San Ysidro, Calif., but the 30-year-old, 50-acre campus needed updating. The $182-million Phase 1B—the first of three phases—included demolition and construction to create a new headhouse building, northbound primary and secondary canopies and booths, an underground tunnel that will connect to the parking garage in Phase 3 and other sitework. The contract also included partial construction of a narcotics-inspection building. Targeting net-zero energy, the project achieved LEED-Platinum certification as a result of 1.53-MW photovoltaic system, an onsite water treatment plant expected to save 20 million gallons of utility water a year and a stormwater harvesting system. General contractor Hensel Phelps had to overcome numerous logistical and security hurdles in keeping the port operational at all times.