Designing, Constructing, Maintaining, and Financing Today's Airport Projects

The turn of the century unveiled plans for unprecedented construction at U. S. airports. By 2001, several airport construction programs were initiated which exceeded a billion dollars. Airport growth is driven directly by travel demand, both for passengers and freight, leading to construction of roads and transit, airfields and terminal facilities at all major U. S. airports. The attack on America and its results have challenged all the previous airport development assumptions. Will air travel demand return? Will the economy sustain the tremendous growth in leisure travel experienced in the 1990s? Can airlines afford airport construction projects? The current environment in the aviation industry is the case study. How do we plan and manage large airport development programs in a dynamic business environment? This paper proposes a methodology for responding to changes in demands, economies and community concerns surrounding airport development programs.

The drop in traffic and other changes in the aviation system since September 11, 2001 have had a profound effect on airport finances and plans to prepare for the future growth in traffic that had been expected prior to those events. Many airports are now facing difficult decisions over when planned increases in capacity may now be required and whether the changes in the aviation industry will require those plans to be reconsidered to address possible changes in future traffic composition or new security requirements. The paper presents the initial results of a monitoring activity to better understand the impact on California's aviation system of these events, and to track the recovery of traffic levels in the system. The paper addresses three aspects of aviation activity: airport passenger and cargo traffic, aircraft operations, and changes in the pattern of air service; and relates the impact on the California aviation system to larger trends at the national level. Based on these findings, the paper examines the extent to which traffic levels are recovering to their previously projected levels and discusses the implications for aviation system finances and airport development plans.

This paper critically examines the Airport Master Plan for Lexington Blue Grass (LEX) Airport (located in the state of Kentucky) as a response to its airport authority's concerns about the projected capacity shortfalls and related congestion and delays. The existing Master Plan proposed several configuration alternatives (including the addition of a 9,000-foot parallel runway) and would require purchasing land in the vicinity of the airport. In the analysis of future capacity at the airport, simulation models are developed to analyze measures of performance such as capacity and delay. The analyses are done for the existing and proposed airfield configurations and two traffic demand projections (a total of four simulation scenarios), in order to establish accurate capacity and delay estimates and to propose the best airport configuration alternative. The simulation results indicate that current and projected future delays, and arrival and departure queue lengths are very low. The analysis shows that the LEX airport would benefit from increased runway-taxiway separation towards the Runway 04 threshold. Under this scenario, non-staggered arrival and departure operations would result in delay reductions. However, in all cases projected aircraft delays are so low that there is no capacity justification for a new runaway at LEX.

This paper presents an enhanced version of WNDROS programs for optimizing wind coverage and runway orientation. The resulting model, VB-WNDROS, is written in Visual Basic using the object- oriented techniques and operates under a Windows environment. The proposed model runs through a driven-menu with a graphic user interface (GUI), offering many features for data entry, analysis, and output presentation. While searching for the optimal solution, a graphical plot of the windrose is displayed together with the runway template showing the direction being evaluated. On the same screen, key results are also displayed and updated during the execution time. Results of alternative solutions are viewed in a table, graph, or report format that can be printed or saved in a file. The model with such features and capabilities is considered a convenient and valuable tool in airport planning and impact studies.

The noise charge has been generally introduced at major airports in order to internalize noise externalities. This research aims to investigate the airline network design considering aircraft noise charge, and to analyze the performance of airport noise charge policy from multiple perspectives. The study formulates an airline network design model by minimizing airline operating cost to determine the optimal air routes and flight frequencies and aircraft types in response to airport noise charge. Then, the study further formulates a model to assess the performance of different noise charge policies by evaluating changes in airport operating profits and the welfare of airport residents nearby. An empirical example for the Chiang Kai-Shek (CKS) International Airport illustrates how airport should determine the optimal noise charge policy from different perspectives.

As more metropolitan areas approach "non-attainment" status for ozone, air pollution at airports is becoming an increasingly important topic. Most proposed emissions reduction strategies target passenger automobiles and airport ground service equipment (GSE). At many airports, the future growth in oxides of nitrogen (NOx) emissions from aircraft is likely to offset any reduction achieved from GSE or passenger vehicles. In some metropolitan areas, airports may be responsible for as much as 10% of the regional NOx. As a result, other alternatives are needed for emissions reduction at airports. Reverse thrust is commonly used along with wheel brakes to slow aircraft during landing and to "power-back" aircraft away from a boarding gate. Currently, air pollution emissions generated during reverse thrust are not included in airport emissions inventories. Since the majority of aircraft NOx emissions occur off-airport during climbout and approach, reverse thrust can be responsible for an additional 15% or more of the on-airport NOx. Because this additional NOx is emitted over a relatively small area, it can create significant air quality impacts in the vicinity of the busiest airports. This study will attempt to quantify the air quality effect of NOx emissions produced during reverse thrust, using Dallas/Ft. Worth International Airport as a case study. The significance of the airport's emissions from a regional standpoint and state implementation plan (SIP) photochemical grid modeling are addressed.

The pavement responses have often been analyzed with static loads, but the pavement critical responses are induced by moving dynamic loads. The objective of this paper is to investigate the dynamic stress and displacement responses of rigid airport pavements subjected to moving dynamic aircraft loads with a constant advance velocity. The airport pavements have been modeled using a plate of infinite extent on a viscoelastic foundation. The moving aircraft loads have been generated considering a twin-tandem main gear with a constant load amplitude or harmonic amplitude variations. To find the pavement responses to moving loads, formulations have been developed in the transformed field domain using a double Fourier transform in space and moving space for the steady-state response to moving harmonic loads and moving loads of constant amplitude. The effects of viscous damping of underlying layers, aircraft speed, and load frequency on the maximum deflection and stress have been investigated. The deflection and stress distributions near the loads have also been studied. The analysis results considering viscoelasticity of the foundation show significant differences from those obtained with an elastic system. Without viscous damping, the effects of aircraft speed and load frequency, within practical ranges, on the deflection and stress are negligible; however, with viscous damping, those effects are significant. The phase between front and rear loads can significantly decrease the maximum deflection and increase the maximum stress.

Regardless of a shorter or longer joint spacing, a better or worse load transfer mechanism, and environmental effects, the required minimum slab thickness will be the same using the current airfield pavement design procedure. Thus, the primary objective of this study is to investigate the effects of many design features including finite slab sizes, thermal curling, moisture warping, and the presence of a second subbase layer on rigid airfield pavements in attempts to expand the applicability of the proposed thickness design procedure by Lee and Yen. The Corps of Engineers full-scale test pavement data were reanalyzed. Several prediction models proposed by Lee, et al. were utilized to estimate the critical edge stress for design. Stress adjustment factors for finite slab width and length were determined and found to be negligible for the test data. Since the concept of transformed section was frequently utilized and sometimes misused in the literature to account for the stress reduction due to a bonded or unbonded second layer, a more complete treatment of this concept was presented. Subsequently, the stress adjustment factor was estimated assuming all subbase layers were unbonded. Climatic data close to the test track locations were obtained from the Long-Term Pavement Performance (LTPP) database and the stress adjustment factor due to effective temperature differentials was estimated. As a result, an alternative structural deterioration model was proposed for future trial analysis and design. The primary benefit of this study and recommendations for future implementation and investigations are discussed.

Severe spalling and half-depth punchout failures associated with horizontal cracks at the mid-depth of the concrete slabs were observed in continuously reinforced concrete pavement (CRCP) in Texas. A study was conducted to identify the causes of those horizontal cracks and their effect on pavement distress. Two types of horizontal cracks were observed. One is due to cold joints that might form when the double strike off method is used. The other is due to environmental loading such as temperature variations through the depth of slab. Mechanistic analysis shows that substantial shear stress and normal tensile stress in the vertical direction could develop at the mid-depth of concrete slab due to environmental loading. Concrete material properties such as modulus of elasticity and thermal coefficient have significant effects on those stresses. Evaluations of in-situ concrete material properties from sections with and without horizontal cracks and environmental conditions during construction all support the results of mechanistic analysis. Concrete shear strength at early ages was evaluated and, based on the stress analysis, it can be easily exceeded by shear stress at mid-depth, resulting in horizontal cracks.

The United States Air Force (USAF) operates over 100 airfields throughout the United States under different commands with different military missions. The majority of these airfields were originally constructed during World War II of rigid (concrete) pavement, and in some cases, the 1940s era pavement is still in operation. Although many of the original concrete pavements have been reconstructed in the past 20 to 40 years, the majority have exceeded their expected design life. The intent of this paper is to study the evolution of concrete airfield pavements and see if the resulting performance is affected by changes in design approaches, climatic region of each airfield, and causes of common distress types.

A paper presented at the 2001 ASCE Airfield Pavement Specialty Conference in Chicago, Illinois, described the UTW design process and the results of field testing conducted during the summer months. This paper provides results of winter and summer testing and compares the summer and winter test results. Analysis of both summer and winter field test data indicated that the UTW is performing satisfactorily and is adequately bonded to the existing AC surface.

Improved field performance of coal-tar sealer mixtures can be achieved through the use of a mixture performance and component acceptability test during the formulation of the mixture. The performance and component acceptability test is a freeze-thaw test that provides an indication of the relative performance of the mixture and of the compatibility between the coal tar sealer mixture components. The compatibility issue exists between the coal-tar emulsion and the polymer additive used in the sealer mixture. Research has shown that coal-tar emulsions and polymers even obtained from the same manufacturer can have compatibility problems. The use of the proposed freeze-thaw test along with the existing mixture performance/acceptance tests should provide a successful coal-tar sealer pavement application.

In the past, on a typical airport construction project, the contractor was responsible for construction and the owner agency was responsible for measuring the quality of that construction. Today, on many airport construction projects the contractor is responsible for his own quality control (QC) and the owner tracks quality through a quality assurance (QA) program. This redistribution of responsibilities and resources has led to an uncertainty regarding the different roles and requirements for both contractors and owners on these projects. On a quality control/quality assurance (QC/QA) project, the contractor is now responsible for daily testing to ensure that the delivered product meets the project specifications and the construction process is in control while the owner is responsible for acceptance testing only. As part of the QA plan, the owner is also required to provide random testing at a specified frequency to ensure that the contractor's testing procedures are being conducted within accepted standards. On some projects, the contractor may even be responsible for the acceptance testing. While QC/QA projects are fairly widespread, a thorough understanding of the implications of such projects, especially regarding roles and responsibilities, is not. This paper examines experiences from several recent projects and presents observations and recommendations that can be used by airport owners, engineers, and contractors, to improve both the QC/QA process and the quality of airfield pavement construction.

Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (PHX), the world's fourth busiest airport, is owned and operated by the City of Phoenix. The City's Aviation Department decided to replace the bituminous concrete pavement on Runway 8-26 with Portland cement concrete (PCC) pavement. As PHX is the busiest three-runway airport in the world, the runway needed to remain operational during reconstruction. This paper will discuss the materials and procedures employed to meet a number of operational and construction challenges associated with the project.

The subject of this paper is how the Port of Oakland planned and designed the project in order to minimize disruptions to aircraft operations, ensure cost competitive construction, while at the same time avoiding excessive impacts to the surrounding communities in terms of noise from diverted aircraft.

This paper will address the process used from the award of the project to its successful completion for the conversion of a parallel taxiway into a temporary runway and the overlay of the main runway at Oakland Airport. It will describe the tremendous planning, communication and work effort required from all the stakeholders for this project. It will also describe the infrastructure improvements required in support of the project and some of the problems that were encountered prior to the start and during construction.

Runway 4-22 at William P. Hobby Airport, Houston, Texas was constructed using Continuous Reinforced Concrete pavement in 1989. During construction, unconsolidated concrete was discovered in the northern and southern ends of the runway. This unconsolidation was confined to the bottom 10 cm (4") of the pavement. Improper vibration techniques were determined to be the cause. A current design project will perform repairs to these areas, which will prolong the life of the pavement to the full 20-year life.

This paper provides summaries of the background, current research efforts, and projected goals of the JRAC program. Discussions of "spin-off" technologies useful to civil airports and other construction industries are also presented. Since the JRAC program seeks to exploit new and emerging technologies within the private sector, it is hoped that this paper will generate critical exchanges of information and perhaps foster important industry and government partnerships in the near future.

The paper first gives a historical perspective to military usage of mats on runways, taxiways, aprons, and parking areas. Common matting systems are discussed which fall into two general categories, structural matting and FOD covers. Structural matting, such as AM-2, is used to increase the runway's structural support when the surface is otherwise inadequate. FOD (i.e., foreign object damage) covers, such as folded fiberglass mats (FFMs), are used on surfaces that are adequate structurally, but have a high incidence of FOD. The body of the paper focuses on recent developments at the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), Tyndall AFB, Florida, which improve the performance and usefulness of matting systems. The paper focuses on the pioneering efforts of AFRL in the use of Elastomer Sprayed Coating (ESC) in three major Rapid Runway Repair (RRR) areas: (1) unreinforced ESC as a FOD cover; (2) ESC with wire mesh reinforcement to create an improved FOD cover; and (3) ESC as a means of expediently anchoring FFMs. In addition, ongoing research at AFRL for structural mat improvements is briefly discussed, including interior AM-2 mat repair techniques and a revolutionary lightweight replacement for AM-2 matting.

The paper first gives definition and historical perspective to the problem of Rapid Runway Repair (RRR), particularly its roots in the area of expedient runway construction. The differences in Cold War and post-Cold War RRR needs are also discussed. CeraTech, Inc.'s PaveMend is presented as a good solution for post-Cold War RRR needs, which are speed of the repair and durability of the repair. The homogeneous nature of PaveMend is illustrated by a photomicrograph, and the ability of PaveMend to be engineered to match the material to be repaired is discussed as a desirable quality. A manufacturer's specification sheet with independent, third-party lab results is presented, which illustrates the ability of PaveMend to mimic the properties of a typical runway which might need RRR in the post-Cold War era.

George Bush Intercontinental Airport/Houston (IAH) has multiple construction projects planned for the next several years. All of these construction projects will involve a temporary closure of roadways or traffic lanes, as well as changing traffic operations in and around the airport. Two separate, but correlated simulation models are used to represent the vehicular traffic operations at IAH. The Terminal and Curbside Roadways are modeled using a discrete event simulation model, TRACS (TransSolutions' proprietary terminal, roadway, and curbside simulation tool), which allowed a detailed representation of vehicle parking to accommodate passenger loading and unloading, pedestrian crossing, and vehicle re-circulation. TRACS' trip generator and model logic is validated through extensive field data. Airport Access Roadways and Regional Freeways covering 25 square miles are modeled by CORSIM, a microscopic traffic simulation model developed by the Federal Highway Administration. This paper presents the methodology in identifying the critical construction phases to be studied, the modeling framework, and how it is used to assess and manage construction impact.

Today more than ever, designers, constructors and project managers have to adopt different, more flexible processes to deal the complexity of today's dynamic problems. These are the type of problems where ends and means are intertwined, where the definition of the problem is only clarified when a solution is found and further redefines the problem, where there are numerous stakeholders who come and go, where the business requirements can change rapidly and new, emerging and changing technology needs to be adopted and incorporated. The project team for Terminal 5 at Heathrow Airport has identified new tools and techniques to help solve the dynamic complexity of Project Development and also to improve flexibility of Delivery through the use of Last Responsible Moment (LRM) for information transfer and still utilise production control techniques to improve delivery efficiency.

Like so many of the airports in the United States, the Burbank Glendale Pasadena Airport (BUR) in Burbank, California was constructed decades ago, when the aviation industry was in its infancy and standards were in their early developmental stage. The end of Runway 26 at BUR is only 50 feet (15 m) from the property line, and its displaced threshold is but 280 feet (85 m) from that same property line. To meet current design standards, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) requires a 1,000-foot-long (305 m) safety area at the end of a runway. However, these standard safety areas have typically been extremely difficult to obtain. In response to the widespread lack of standard safety areas at airports, the FAA, with industry support, undertook a research program to test the suitability of various aircraft arresting systems for commercial aircraft. The result of the investigations was Advisory Circular 150/5220-22 Engineered Materials Arresting System (EMAS) for Aircraft Overruns. This material, and its application at BUR, is the subject of this paper.

The United States Air Force in Europe (USAFE) is responsible for tracking obstructions, such as structures, terrain, and vegetation, that potentially pose a threat to operations and safety in and around airfields at all USAFE Bases. USAFE desired a Geographic Information System (GIS)-based tool that would be able to identify and document on- and off-Base obstructions to air navigation under existing and proposed airfield conditions. One complexity was that the regulations under which these obstructions are reported were undergoing review and may potentially change. Thus, not only did different airfield and airspace criteria need to be evaluated from what was typically enforced in the past, but the ability to determine obstructions based on multiple regulations needed to be part of the tool produced. It is envisioned that the system will maximize limited resources while producing better overall obstruction management strategies. This project included production of digital orthophotography and terrain models (tree canopies merged with existing land features) for large regions surrounding military airfields in Germany. Three-dimensional (3-D) airspace surfaces were generated that reflected various agencies' imaginary airspace regulatory criteria. The terrain models and airspace surfaces were then intersected to identify where structures or ground/vegetation surfaces penetrated the airspace surface. Because of the commonality of the tools used, by-products were also easily generated that supplemented the analysis. Preparation of 3-D perspective graphics and 3-D animations to simulate a fly-through scenario were possible for agency use and public presentation.

Ethylene glycol based fluids are the primary aircraft anti-icing/deicing fluids used at Toronto Pearson International Airport. Due to the toxicity of the additives to anti-icing/deicing fluids and the oxygen limiting ability of ethylene glycol, significant efforts are required to control the release of stormwater contaminated with aircraft anti-icing/deicing fluids. It was recognized that both source control and end of pipe measures are required. Source control measures were implemented via retrofitting existing facilities and the construction of the Central Deicing Facility. Since 1990, a Master Stormwater Implementation Plan has been developed to design and construct appropriate end of pipe facilities at Toronto Pearson International Airport, at a cost of over $100 million. The combination of both source control and end of pipe measures have resulted in fewer "exceedances" of the Canadian Environmental Protection Act guideline for glycol contaminated runoff.

The Central Deicing Facility (CDF) at Lester B. Pearson International Airport (LBPIA) was an initiative first developed in 1996 under the direction of Transport Canada. Maintaining flight surfaces clean of ice and snow, simplifying communications between controllers, pilots and deicing crews; and minimizing water pollution, were all factors governing the design of this project. An airline accident at Dryden, Ontario on March 10, 1989 and a collision between a deicing vehicle and a Boeing 747-400 on January 21, 1995 at Dorval, Quebec were both examined closely to mitigate the potential of similar incidents happening. Centralization of the de-icing process was determined to be an essential first step in meeting these goals. The facility was located to minimize aircraft holdover time (eliminating the need for `re-sprays') whilst maximizing containment of effluent and increasing throughput to meet or exceed future launch capacity. The project was also initiated to replace existing de-icing positions at the perimeter of the Terminal 1 and 2 Aprons. The construction of the CDF project was ultimately constructed under the direction of the Greater Toronto Airports Authority between April 1998 and October 1999.

This paper investigates the operational compatibility of existing passenger processing facilities at international airport terminals with the introduction of New Large Aircraft (NLA). The introduction of the NLA is believed to have major impacts on existing airport facilities, due to its greater dimension and higher seat capacity. The impacts on airside planning and design have been extensively studied in recent years. The terminal landside related issues are still less studied, however, because of the uncertain operating characteristics of the NLA. This paper uses an integrated simulation method to evaluate the potential impacts on the operation performance of primary processing facilities. The method utilizes scenario analysis in a before and after context, and attempts to analyze the impacts under current uncertainty regarding the operating characteristics of the NLA and its market share. This method may assist airport operators to examine the potential bottlenecks in the terminal and to evaluate operations. Essentially, this paper focuses on the analysis of arriving passenger flows. Major impacts at the baggage claim system are discussed in this paper. With respect to the evaluation of related operational strategies, the simulation results demonstrate that providing the gates for NLA operations only will be an efficient strategy to accommodate NLA introduction.

The airport terminal is one of the major new types of architecture conceived and developed in the last century. The design of terminal buildings, being conditioned by the efficient integration of evolving mass transportation modes with novel building technologies, significant regional economical considerations and effective responses to human factors, can generate a unique, complex and dynamic built environment. The evolution of this architectural type depends on a rigorous understanding of its architectural morphology: the ways in which the integration of building components shapes the architectural space and places of the terminal and transforms, in the eyes of individuals and communities, its tectonic entities into memorable forms. The current paper introduces a revised classification of morphological attributes intended to expand our ability to conduct a descriptive and normative analysis of the morphology of this architectural type.

This paper summarizes security-related measures that have been implemented at airports in the United States for access and curbside roadways and parking, rental car, and transit facilities. An overview is provided of the Federal Aviation Administration's security requirements and the measures imposed by the Aviation and Transportation Security Act (ATSA), enacted in November 2001. In addition, the paper describes (a) security considerations that must be addressed during the planning and design of airport landside facilities, including those related to parking, curbside, roadways, and ground transportation, (b) the resulting changes to airport parking revenues and requirements, (c) the experience of airport operators in implementing a range of curbside roadway enforcement policies, and (d) planning and design considerations, including those related to the siting of public parking and vehicle inspection facilities. The need to provide flexibility to accommodate unforeseeable events is emphasized.

Since the building of the first Automated People Mover (APM) in the Tampa International Airport in 1971, the design concept of airport terminals around the world has changed. APMs have been able to increase the number of gates on the airside, decrease the air passengers' curb-to-gate walking distances, and allow the remote location of terminal supporting facilities, such as parking garages. These advantages, which could increase terminal capacity both on the landside and the airside have made APMs as an essential transportation element in major airports around the world. The expanding of many existing airports and the building high capacity airport terminals have become possible due to the APMs. This paper will discuss the impact of APMs on the design of airport terminals by comparing the design concepts of selected airports before and after introduction of APMs,.

In this paper, two computer models are developed with MATLAB and ITHINK software packages: Baseline Aircraft Gate Model (BAGM) and Aircraft Gate Optimization and Requirements Model (AGORM). These models will be a sophisticated, real-time resource allocation system that supports the allocation and management of aircraft gate resources. The models will be designed to analyze a single day scheduling system and as a resource planning tool to formulate short- to long-term improvements. The scalable nature of the product and the flexibility of this program make it an ideal solution for assessing gate utilization at an airport of any size. The principal objective of this research effort is the development of a computer program to model the utilization of aircraft parking positions (gates and remote stands) at airports and to develop related utilization and operating data. Ultimately, this program could be deployed as decision support systems to aid airport and airline personnel.

The evaluation of major landside infrastructure projects at airports is a key element in the planning process. To support the planning process, analytical techniques must be sufficiently detailed to address the range of variables that effect the complexity of demand and yet allow intuitive interpretation of the data for lay stakeholders who share in the decision-making process. This need provides the goal for the development of an analysis tool able to assist in the evaluation of existing and proposed future roadway and frontage conditions at airports. This paper discusses the development of such a tool. The analysis tool is a series of analysis and simulation modules that have been developed into a model of the landside circulation.

O'Hare has four general public parking areas on the airport containing six separate lots. In the core area grouped together are Lots A, B, and C, which provide 12,030 spaces of structure and surface parking for Terminals 1, 2, and 3; Lot D provides 937 spaces of surface parking for Terminal 5, also known as the international terminal; Lot E is a remote parking lot that provides 6,916 spaces of surface parking; and Lot F is another remote lot that provides 3,118 spaces of surface parking. The total supply of public parking is 23,001 spaces. There is also another remote surface lot available for overflow parking that could accommodate 1,200 vehicles. (This overflow lot was reconstructed and opened to provide full-time operation in early 2002. It provides 2,800 surface spaces to fulfill the unmet demand anticipated to be experienced during the construction of the new parking structures.) Parking demand had become so great that Lots A, B, and C were closing during mid-week because of business travel, and vehicles were being redirected to Lots E and F. In addition, Lots E and F were closing over holiday periods due to pleasure travel, and vehicles were being redirected to the overflow lot.

As air passenger traffic increases, congestion on the airport ground access system and in airport terminals also increases. One of the alternatives for ground access that many airports have built or are considering is a rail connection. This paper provides an introduction to airport rail service in the United States and briefly describes projects that are underway at San Francisco International, New York Kennedy International, and Minneapolis-St. Paul International airports. Automated people movers have also become an important component in several airports over the past thirty years. In many cases these systems have changed the way that terminals are planned. An introduction to airport people movers, applications, and characteristics are presented. New systems at Detroit Metro International, San Francisco International, and Minneapolis-St. Paul International airports are described. In addition, the paper describes the extension of the people mover at Newark International Airport to link with commuter rail and Amtrak service, and a proposed people mover that will replace shuttle bus service between Oakland International Airport and BART.

As the demand for airport access increases, air-rail projects have sprung up at airports worldwide in an attempt to accommodate that demand and make access easier. Newark International Airport has recently completed construction of a one-mile extension to its on-airport monorail system, allowing it to connect to the busy northeast corridor line served by Amtrak and New Jersey Transit commuter trains. This paper concludes with a status of how the system has operated over its first 90 days in revenue service, including customer reactions, ongoing work, and modifications based on observations made throughout the initial period of operation.

A transit link between the Oakland International Airport, Oakland, California and the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) Oakland Coliseum station has been repeatedly studied by various consultants since 1970, but has never materialized because of excessively expensive solutions. The previous cost estimate for this project ($198.6 million-escalated to 1998 dollars) was considered unacceptable to Alameda County politicians and voters. Subsequently, the Port of Oakland and BART, with assistance from Jakes Associates, Inc., created an innovative approach to reduce the cost of implementation, which was necessary for the local Alameda County Tax Measure to pass. By exercising very innovative concepts, the involved parties reduced the original estimate to $129.9 million, which represents a $68.7 million or 35% savings. This goal has been achieved by applying an estimating methodology based on site specific solutions and drawing extensively on close interaction with candidate suppliers of innovative, emerging technologies. The primary objective of this effort was to achieve project goals in a much more creative and cost efficient way than for similar airport People Mover projects (such as the neighboring San Francisco International Airport). The costing model was adjusted for the complex structural interface with the BART station and the planned airport terminal (a six story parking structure in front of the terminal), and right-of-way costs were emphasized to reflect an achievable cost for a "type" of system rather than a specific supplier.

The idea of using people movers as a "must ride" part of an airport began with the concept of Tampa International Airport in the late 60s and early 70s. Tampa's airport automated people mover opened in 1971. This paper will discuss (1) the idea of using a people mover to achieve "easy come easy go" to connect people and goods between ground transportation and air transportation; (2) the evolution of the design concepts for Tampa International Airport, Orlando International Airport and Denver International Airport and how the use of people movers shaped each airport not only in its initial development but also through the years of its expansion; (3) the management approaches used for each airport people mover in both design and construction. For Tampa, the approach was called "Technical Management." For Orlando, it was single designer, construction manager and project coordinator and for Denver, it was program manager, multiple designers and contractors; (4) how each airport dealt with an uncertain future of 40 or more years from initial concept through succeeding design and construction periods; and (5) approaches to using a people mover to achieve the two goals of protecting both the airport and aircraft from the destructive intentions of the self-destroying terrorist.

This paper provides a critical review of key issues associated with the process of planning and designing the Automated People Mover (APM) at Denver International Airport (DIA). Although the airport opened over seven years ago, it is valuable to look back on the process of such a mammoth and complex undertaking. The passage of time permits the planning and design process to be placed in perspective and compared with practices common today. Issues discussed include the project schedule as it related to the APM; relationships among the stakeholders including the absence of the airlines until late in the process; the importance of planning criteria and assumptions in shaping design decisions; the application of computer based analytical tools; failure management considerations; and the role of the APM consultant during project implementation. The paper concludes with a summary of the most important lessons learned that are relevant to ongoing and future airport APM projects.

The paper discusses the progressive development of sophisticated analytical methodology and computer-based tools now used in the planning and design of APM systems in airports. Starting with the first estimation of ridership on the Tampa Airport airside shuttle system 30 years ago and the similar but more advanced analysis of the Orlando Airport airside shuttle system, the history of this vital aspect of APM design for airport applications is discussed. Examples of the increasingly more sophisticated analysis tools are traced through airport project work in each of the decades of the 1970s, 1980s, 1990s and into the new century.

This paper will address the unique issues, constraints, challenges, and rewards of the fast track design and construction process used to bring owner, airline, tenant, design consultants, construction contractor and system supplier together as one team to accomplish this project. The paper will discuss the schedule critical path issues and constraints, and how engineering supported the contractor. Design techniques will be illustrated that allowed around the clock progress while having severely limited access time to the airports operation area for construction. Also included will be details of design, implementation issues encountered, and final resolutions that are leading to a successful completion of a project that has an aggressive schedule.

Dallas / Fort Worth (DFW) International Airport has experienced significant increases in air traffic demand that supports the need for an overall airport expansion program. Expansion of existing Terminals has caused the current Airport's Train network to operate at a level very close to maximum practical capacity. The addition of a secure Automated People Mover (APM) system to transfer passengers between all the Airport Terminals is critical to support the Airport's projected future growth. The APM Program is a multifaceted organization made up of the owner, designers, construction contractors, train consultant, and the train supplier. All engineering and construction resources are co-located at the Airport's CDP Satellite Office Complex.

Two Automated People Mover (APM) systems are currently located at Minneapolis - St. Paul International Airport (MSP). The Hub Tram is a landside APM operating in a dual lane shuttle configuration in a tunnel environment. The Concourse Tram is a secure airside APM which will operate in a pinched loop configuration along a mostly elevated guideway. Both systems are recognized as low cost systems in the context of their airport operational environment. Design goals for both systems included necessary accommodation of several requirements unique to each system in ways that preserved low costs. Economy with regard to the implementation and operation of both systems was successfully achieved by considering cost issues on a variety of scales which transcended the immediate capital and operational costs of the APM systems. This paper presents the two MSP APMs as case studies in cost containment. The paper presents an overview of the salient characteristics of each APM system, then discusses cost issues in a hierarchy of three ascending scales; 1) system costs, 2) fixed facility costs, and 3) development program costs. These costs issues are discussed for both the Hub Tram and Concourse Tram systems respectively, and lastly, conclusions are drawn and presented.

The implementation of the CABLE Liner Shuttle System at the Birmingham Airport is described. The project has been installed on time and budget. This people mover system demonstrates its flexibility to fit into difficult, existing fixed facilities constraints. It is shown that this smaller and simpler system is well suited for a medium size airport which must optimize its financial exposure.

This paper presents reasons and constraints which have made Automated People Movers extremely expensive for airport applications and subsequently prevented smaller airports from considering technological solutions to their surface traffic problems. The paper also offers some recipes for better and more diversified use of People Mover technologies and project implementation techniques for both intra-airport and airport transit link applications.