LAX Construction Projects Continue to Provide Quality Union Jobs in Tough Economy
By Beige Luciano-Adams
Contributing Writer
With the first phase of a comprehensive modernization project at the Tom Bradley International Terminal at LAX nearing its delivery date of early 2010, the crafts are looking toward the phase two, which promises continued work for local members.
“This much-needed rebuilding of the Bradley terminal was essential to future operations of the airport and it has been a blessing for us, creating good craft construction jobs while we’ve been modernizing the facility,” says LA/OC Building Trades Council Executive Secretary Richard Slawson.
“It’s an ongoing process and right now it sure is a saving grace,” adds IBEW Local 11 business representative Rusty Roten, who has worked on the project since its inception to contract highly skilled electrical craftspeople for the complex system overhauls. “This project is keeping a large group of union workers employed right now through these tough economic times,” he says.
According to Lou Panadrani, vice president of contractor Clark Construction (the plan is being developed under a Clark/McCarthy Join Venture), the project is 85 percent complete and on track to meet its target completion date of 2010.
“We’ve performed the work on multiple shifts since the start of the project in December 2006,” says Panadrani, who estimates close to 500 craftspeople have been working on what will add up to a million square-feet of renovation to the existing terminal, which hosts about 10 million passengers annually.
Hailed as the largest single project in LA City history when construction began in 2007, the massive overhaul of Tom Bradley International Terminal is the centerpiece of a larger effort to modernize the airport.
In addition to upgrading passengers’ experience, developers are also looking to catch up with the future of commercial aviation and international trade: the terminal is the West coast’s premier international transit hub, especially to the fast-growing commercial aviation region of Asia-Pacific.
The first LAX project to incorporate LEED standards, it is also considered among the most complex U.S. airport projects, as the construction work – including major electrical work – is performed while the terminal stays fully operational.
The original budget, reported at $723.5 million, has since neared the billion-dollar mark, according to Roten, who attributes the rise to the “huge engineering enterprise” that was necessary address the changes. Although the extent and scope of the project could likely change as it progresses, airport officials put the total estimate at $2 - $4 billion.
Phase one is heavy on engineering work, including upgrades of existing electrical, plumbing, ventilation, lighting, passenger flow, safety and security systems. Restrooms, elevators, escalators are also being upgraded, as are video monitors, meant to streamline passenger flow. The plans also include upgrades to the arrival lobby, lounge and restaurant areas and a range of specialty lighting including other cosmetic renovations, which are now underway.
Altogether, the work should bring an additional 45,000 square feet of new space to the terminal in addition to the million square feet of renovation.
Among the larger sub-projects is a new, inline baggage screening system that replaces oversized explosive scanners in the check-in areas. The $140 million-dollar system, which currently employs about 70 union electricians, according to Roten, will scan luggage after check-in and on the way to the plane.
“The baggage handling was a huge project,” says the business rep, adding that the new scanning system has been engineered according to TSA rules for homeland security. “It got more complex, yet it’s functioning and doing well.”
Working with different contractors, the number of electricians working on the project peaked at about 130. Other crafts working on the project include plumbers, sheet metal workers and painters.
More work ahead
With phase one on track, developers aim to begin phase two after its completion, targeted for 2010.
The second phase will include a “Bradley West” facility and Midfield Concourse projects, designed to accommodate a new generation of wide-body jets, including the Boeing 747-800 and the Airbus 380.
“The new concourses will be longer going out north and south than the existing ones, so there will be more jet ways, that way more planes can come to the terminal and be serviced at any given time,” says Roten.
Recently, Los Angeles City Council awarded an additional $51.2 million contract to Denver-based Fentress Architects for design work related to centralized security and retail functions of the proposed “grand hall” in Bradley West, bringing the firm’s contract to a net $93 million through an end date of 2015.
With engineering complete, Roten says bid packages for the new phase are on the way and they should hear something by late this year. However, the projects must go through approval processes before breaking ground.
“I’m betting it’s going be around a billion-dollar project,” says Roten.
For the trades, this means another spate of solid jobs.
Meanwhile, other ongoing upgrade projects at LAX that also employ union members include a new cross-field taxiway, garage parking, lighting, fencing and other modernizing projects.
