Transportation
New Dulles Airport Concourse Reaches Construction Milestone
Turner Construction Co. and PGAL are leading the design-build team for the 435,000-sq-ft project at the newest midfield concourse at Washington Dulles International Airport.
Rendering courtesy MWAA
The newest midfield concourse at Washington Dulles International Airport topped out with placement of the final structural steel beam. The new concourse is currently scheduled to open in September 2026.
Turner Construction Co. and PGAL are leading the design-build team for the 435,000-sq-ft project, which initially will be known as Concourse E.
Topping out July 24, the project features 14 gates, the new Tier 2 concourse is the initial phase of the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority’s (MWAA’s) plan to eventually replace the 46-gate, 550,000-sq-ft Concourse C/D, originally constructed in the early 1980s as a temporary measure to accommodate Dulles’s rapid growth.
The new LEED Silver concourse will feature LED lighting, high-efficiency climate control systems. Photo courtesy MWAA To be used primarily by United Airlines for both domestic and international flights, the new LEED Silver concourse will feature LED lighting, high-efficiency climate control systems and support for electric vehicles to service aircraft and transport passengers. Other features include 46,000 sq ft of concessions space, a 40,000-sq-ft airline club and tunnels for baggage conveyor systems, electric-powered support vehicles and pedestrian access to other concourses and the main terminal.
Once Concourse E is in operation, construction is expected to begin on a 1.735-million-sq-ft expansion to the facility currently being designed by HOK. That project calls for more than 20 new gates for international departures and arrivals, and a new 176,000-sq-ft federal inspection services facility. MWAA has yet to select a contractor for the expansion, the completion of which will be followed by the demolition of the existing Concourse C/D.
The new LEED Silver concourse will feature LED lighting, high-efficiency climate control systems. Photo courtesy MWAA
HOK also will design a new central utility plant for airport infrastructure, upgrades to ramp control systems and baggage handling services and the initial 1.13-million-sq-ft section of a separate Tier 3 concourse. No schedule for these projects has been announced.
The concourse and infrastructure projects are part of a planned $7-billion package of facility infrastructure investments at Dulles that MWAA expects to complete during the next 15 years. The airport’s recently updated master plan also includes a new 10,500-ft-long, 150-ft wide east-west runway along the airport’s south side. The runway, which would be Dulles’s fifth, was part of the airport’s original 1950s-era design and was approved for construction by the FAA in 2005.
