Piecing Together a Construction Puzzle

Imagine a real-world game of Tetris in which the shapes are enormous pieces of steel and concrete. That’s what project managers at Pittsburgh International Airport’s new Terminal Modernization Program deal with every day.

The construction site sits mere feet away from the current airside terminal serving thousands of passengers a day, necessitating a high degree of vigilance to ensure that the project doesn’t affect airport operations.

To complicate matters, the new terminal project is confined to strict physical boundaries because of airport security rules. Workers on the new terminal project must be registered to the Eyrus safety and location tracking system, become OSHA-certified and be trained in and adhere to all TMP safety guidelines even though they don’t have badges allowing them access to secure areas of the airport.

So space near the new terminal, Multi-Modal Complex parking structure, and new roadway system is limited—creating challenges when trying to store enormous pieces of structural components. To get the job done, workers engage in a daily ballet of rearrangement, aided by constant communication and specialized technology.

“What we’ve done is take the area available and make the best use of it,” said Eric Ferguson, Eric Ferguson, general superintendent with PJ Dick/Hunt, the terminal construction manager.

That includes making sure that the right materials are accessible when they’re needed.

“When we first started, we had acres and acres of land, and that quickly went away,” said Pat Garrett, roadways supervisor for PJ Dick/Hunt.

“It’s more important than ever to make sure that whatever we bring into the site is needed quickly so we don’t have anything sitting here for a long period of time.”

How it works

Since most materials cannot be installed right as they are delivered, the main storage space for large items is on Taxiway Bravo off the Clinton exit on the Parkway West, which also serves as an employee entrance to the site.

“That allows us to bring all of our employees, all of our deliveries, and all of our concrete trucks, whatever it might be, in off a very convenient exit,” Ferguson said.

Bravo is separated into three sections that each stage different materials—steel, precast concrete and miscell