The $7.9-billon, 10-year overhaul of New York City’s LaGuardia Airport—outdated, crowded and derided by passengers, pilots and politicians—is monumental enough, with a crowd of contractors using unique project delivery approaches to replace its three busiest terminals and upgrade complex infrastructure on a tight site hemmed in by water and highways. Amid that tally of risk factors, along with Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) as a watchdog over one of his signature projects, LaGuardia strives to maintain full operations by accommodating 100,000 passengers on peak days while erecting new structures and razing old ones.
Construction of twin facilities totaling 2.5 million sq ft to replace existing Terminals B, C and D follows a meticulous phasing plan that aims to keep passengers flowing to and from their planes at the facility in East Elmhurst, Queens. Along with safety, maintaining airport operations “takes complete priority,” says Richard J. Smyth, redevelopment project executive for LaGuardia, which is run by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.