The term “enabling” may have negative connotations to laypeople, but for airport builders, it’s all about progress. Almost every busy airport in the U.S. faces the common challenge of trying to expand and modernize existing infrastructure within a tight footprint full of existing roadways, facilities and traffic. “Enabling” is how contractors describe the process of shifting existing “chess pieces” to make room for new construction.
At Salt Lake City International Airport, that includes the extensive reconfiguring of the roadway and parking systems, utility relocations, a “quick turnaround facility” to allow up to 2,000 workers site access, and ground stabilization work, including some 15,000 stone-filled columns as deep as 40 ft in an ancient lake bed.