The maelstrom of the $741-million remake of the world's busiest border crossing—the San Ysidro Land Port of Entry between Southern California and Mexico—was the 570-ft-long by 55-ft-wide cable-stayed canopy over the 24 lanes of tandem inspection booths that process 50,000 vehicles daily. The general contractor's agreement with SYLPOE not to worsen the already-lengthy vehicle wait times during construction of the canopy—and the tandem replacement booths—turned an intensely difficult project into a hellish one.
"The canopy was a pretty complicated structure and the logistics of the port didn't make it any easier," says Jeffrey L. Wellenstein, project manager for Hensel Phelps (HP), manager of construction and general contractor for the substantially complete $299-million first phase of the makeover.