When Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport wanted to modernize and expand one of their most cramped concourses, they looked at numerous schemes. Their goals were simple: increase overall passenger capacity for the concourse, bring the existing 1970’s building in line with modern building codes, and do that all with the least amount of disruption to airport operations.
The Design, Construction, and Ownership teams collectively decided to implement a bold approach: modularize the building, build as much of it outside the airport security fence, and then move the completed structures to their final locations. Collaboration was the key to success for this project, and we will be discussing how the Engineers of Record and the Structural Steel Team worked seamlessly together to solve problems and get the project to the finish line utilizing the Advanced Project Delivery process. We will discuss the design process with a special focus on the design criteria based on temporary conditions, including those imposed during the module moves. We will also present the structural design and construction of an additional concourse at the airport which allowed gates to be taken out of service during the modular moves while limiting the impact on the number of departures each day.
Mary Williams is an associate principal in Thornton Tomasetti’s Chicago office. She is a licensed professional and structural engineer with more than 15 years of experience in new design projects in the higher education, data center, healthcare, government and aviation sectors. Mary has a master’s degree in structural engineering from Stanford University and a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from Cornell University. She is currently serving as principal in charge of the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport Concourse D expansion project.
Joe Porada began his career in Thornton Tomasetti’s Chicago office with the Renewal practice after earning his bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from the University of Notre Dame and master’s degree in structural engineering from Lehigh University. During this stage of his career, he was responsible for structural analysis and design and worked on several adaptive reuse and forensics projects such as the Cloud Buster Climbing Exhibit in Chicago and the OSF Healthcare renovation in Peoria, IL. He transitioned to the firm’s Structural Engineering practice a few years ago and has most recently been involved in the DraftKings Sportsbook at Wrigley Field, O’Hare International Airport’s Terminal 5 Parking Garage, and Citadel’s new headquarters in Miami.
