From
Contracting to Cabling, U.S. Airports Go Hi-Tech
Phoenix
takes lessons from other airports and takes off with its own
innovations
6/20/2005
...with airport officials and
engineers. "It’s a double-edged sword. The airport
community is small, and literally we should have zero unhappy
customers."
Hi-Tech
Service. In Phoenix, messages can be relayed via
terminal-wide screens (left). In Las Vegas, airport computer
users can go wireless. (Photo left courtesy of Phoenix
Aviation Department; right courtesy of Clark County Department
of Aviation)
Swonsen notes that design-build
is becoming more common for IT contracts, which often are
combined with procurement contracts. Rather than separating
requests for proposals for a new parking system, revenue control
process and related systems, the RFPs may be bundled into
one operations contract.
Tucson Airport is taking a cue
from Phoenix. Bonnie Allin, president of Tucson Airport, says:
"We developed the idea of a formal IT master plan because
the technology obviously changes so fast and we’re trying
to keep up." As the airport planned an upgrade of its
50-year-old terminal, IT director Robert Sotomayor decided
that technologies should be documented separately in terms
of layout, costs, schedules and cost-benefit analysis.
An Airport IT
Checklist
Wireless communications capability.
Paging system with audio- and visual- impaired accommodations.
Commercial vehicle identification and tracking system.
Redundancy in IT and power backbone infrastructure.
Common-use e-ticketing kiosks and other information facilities
that all airport tenants share.
In-line baggage screening system that may use radio frequency
tags.
Geographical Positioning System technology to map locations
of all utilities.
Unlike Phoenix, which Murphy says
is "not trying to push common-use facilities" along
with its common-use cabling, Sacramento County Airport has
installed a $2.1-million fiber backbone system network and
is implementing universal baggage, gate and flight information
systems. The system prevents one airline from seeing another’s
information even if using the same equipment.
Neverthless, getting airlines to
give up their own proprietary systems is difficult. "It
saves money to a certain degree, but it can become a slippery
slope of sacrificing quality of product that many airlines
don’t want to go too far down," says Paul Lambert,
America West vice president for corporate real estate. "We
prefer to be on our own proprietary systems, though a good
one is manageable."
Lambert warns that "the new
unified systems at the different airports probably will not
be able to incorporate different levels of functionality.
For example, will travelers be able to enter frequent flier
numbers at [common-use] kiosks?" Moreover, a common-use
system could mean "a whole new round of bugs, which the
airports may not know how to fix."
The challenges of evolving technol-ogy
and airport operations continue. Phoenix is now planning a
$110-million project to install some 30 new explosive- detection
machines and in-line baggage screening. The airport might
own and manage the in-line system, a consortium of airlines
might handle operations or a third party may come in with
an operations and maintenance contract, says Shovestull.
Sky Harbor’s
Rental Facility Is Consolidated in Many Aspects
The concept
of consolidated rental car facilities at airports is
not new, but Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport is taking it
to new levels. The $270-million facility is designed
for flexibility and the combination of commercial vehicle
identification and vehicle tracking technology.
Rental
facility in Phoenix will feature flexible communication
capacity. photos courtesy of phoenix aviation department.
Drivers of airport courtesy
buses to and from the facility will use special cards
to turn on the ignition. Who the drivers are, how they
drive, how long the stops take at each terminal and
other information will be recorded. This will help airport
officials make decisions on altering routes so that
the buses spend as little time lingering at the curbside
as possible, says Roxann Favors, airport project management
assistant.
"Other airports have
done this, but this is the first time that an airport
will have an integrated solution with consolidated reporting,"
says Forrest Swonsen, regional manager for Transcore,
Dallas, which is providing vehicle tracking and identification
technology.
With the hybrid system plus
the centralized system to accommodate any rental car
vendor, "Phoenix will be the model for the future,"
claims Jeffrey Jarvis, principal with Kansas City-based
Transystems Corp., the prime consultant. The steel and
concrete facility sits on a 140-acre site and includes
a 2.2 million-sq-ft three-level garage topped by a 160,000-sq-ft
customer service building.
The crescent-shaped building
features separate routes for customers and employees.
One reason for locating the customer service area on
the top level is to orient visitors to the city, which
they can see from the windows, says Jarvis. The layout
positions visitors to see all eight to 13 rental car
options upon entering. Once ready, customers descend
to the garage from one of several core points. They
can go directly to the proper section to pick up their
cars.
The facility includes more
than 40 communications and cable rooms so new rental
car companies can hook up immediately, says Ralph Ketchum,
project manager for Austin-based Austin Commercial,
the CM-at-risk firm. "I don’t know of any
other car rental facilities with that capability."
In the spirit of the common-use
theme, Austin Commercial provides long-term equipment
rentals for its subcontractors on the project. It also
has negotiated special rates for short-term equipment
rentals with local suppliers.
Gives readers a glimpse of who is planning and constructing some of the largest projects throughout the U.S. Much information for pulse is derived from McGraw-Hill Construction Dodge.
For more information on a project in Pulse that has a DR#, or for general information on Dodge products and services, please visit our Website at www.dodge.construction.com.
Information is provided on construction projects in following stages in each issue of ENR: Planning, Contracts/Bids/Proposals and Bid/Proposal Dates.
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Wireless communications capability.
