Buildings/Transportation: San Diego Airport Green Build Expansion
Two design-build teams squeezed $907 million worth of construction into one of the world's busiest single-runway airports, managing to modernize and expand an 85-year-old terminal and related facilities while shaving a collective $45 million off the budget and pumping $415 million in contracts to local businesses as part of the San Diego International Airport's Green Build Expansion.
The 460,000-sq-ft Terminal 2 expansion also makes it the world's first commercial airport terminal to receive a LEED Platinum rating, says Bob Bolton, director of design and construction for the San Diego County Regional Airport Authority. Under an approximately $470-million contract, a joint venture of Turner Construction Co., PCL Constructors Inc. and Flatiron Construction Corp. built 1.5 million sq ft of new taxiways and aprons; 10 new aircraft gates capable of accommodating new-generation wide-body aircraft; a new security checkpoint with double the original capacity; a 9,200-sq-ft concessions area; 1.3 million sq ft of new aircraft apron and taxiway areas developed on a brownfield site; and a central utility plant expansion. The airport expects up to 33 million annual passengers by 2030, but it is hemmed in by the ocean and inland development.