LA Airport’s $1.6B Makeover Advances

By Barbra Murray

LAX’s Midfield Satellite Concourse project is part of the airport’s expansion effort.

Los Angeles International Airport’s Midfield Satellite Concourse project, which will add 12 new gates to the country’s second busiest airport, continues on track following its February 2017 groundbreaking as Granite Construction Inc. joins the $1.6 billion modernization endeavor. Turner/PCL Joint Venture, the partnership that’s building the 750,000-square-foot project on behalf of LAX owner and operator Los Angeles World Airports, just awarded Granite a $59 million sub-contract involving demolition and construction activity.

“The Midfield Satellite Concourse is a transformational project that will put thousands of people to work and help extend L.A.’s worldwide reach even further,” Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti said during the groundbreaking ceremony.

Granite will have its hands full at the MSC project, a state-of-the-art extension of the Tom Bradley International Terminal. The infrastructure contractor and construction materials producer is tasked with demolishing approximately 80,000 cubic yards of existing portland cement concrete and asphalt surfaces, as well as 13,000 feet of existing utilities. The company’s work will also include the installation of more than 28,000 feet of utilities, and the construction of 3,000 cubic yards of utility structures, including five pump stations.

News of Granite’s contract emerged just as Los Angeles World Airports announced that the last remaining parcel required for the development of the five-level MSC has been made available to the construction team this month. The parcel, which had been home to a Coast Guard hangar and other structures, was cleared as part of an $8 million project.

“With the enabling work for the midfield concourse site now completed—on time and under budget—it is full speed ahead towards opening the concourse at the end of 2019,” Deborah Flint, CEO of Los Angeles World Airports, said in a prepared statement.

Image courtesy of Los Angeles World Airports