b'WINTER OPERATIONSATL 41Atlanta Intl Constructs South Deicing Complex BY JODI RICHARDS Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL) mayraw deicer product storage and dispensing facilities and not regularly deal with icing conditions, but that doesntsurrounding pavementmean they are not a concern for its airlines and airport operations building and surrounding pavementmanagement. As the busiest passenger airport in the Uniteddeicer-impacted stormwater management, including diversion States, roughly 6% of all U.S. enplanements occur at ATL. So whenstructures, online monitoring, storage tanks, pH adjustment/operations slow there, the rest of the country is impacted. To avoidodor control and sanitary sewer dischargethat scenario, ATL is expanding its deicing capabilities by adding a first-flush collection systemnew $147 million South Deicing Complex. jet blast deflectorsConstruction began early last year and is covered parking area for more than 50 deicing trucksexpected to wrap up this fall.associated utilities, including a new fiber optic backbone for Even though it doesnt snow a whole lotthe complex, water, sanitary and stormwater drainage, and in Atlanta, whenever it does snow and full-onpost-construction stormwater detentiondeicing is required, its always very challengingThe project is being delivered under two design-bid-build, because we just dont have enough deicinglow-bid contracts: ramps and facilities. The facilities contract, pads to accommodate the demand, saysawarded to Manhattan/RFB, includes construction of the Thomas Nissalke, ATLs assistant generalTOM NISSALKEadministration building, glycol receiving and storage/dispensing manager. For instance, on a reasonably busy pre-COVID day, ATLsystem. The ramps contract, awarded to Archer Western/Lewis would have about 1,300 departures.Contracting, includes the airfield deicing apron and associated The importance of ATL as a cog in the commercial air system taxilanes, partial reconstruction of Taxiway R, drainage, spent thats one of the real justifications why we did this [project],glycol recovery storage, pre-treatment process, associated Nissalke says. We want to make sure we maintain adequatelandside improvements and associated utilities. Nissalke notes that operations and keep aircraft running on time. separating the project into two contracts made a lot of sense and Locally, 2014 is remembered as the last time the area shuthas worked well so far. down due to winter weather. It was the icing that really affected movement around the Atlanta metropolitan area, recalls Nissalke.Design Process and FeaturesWe had a hard time keeping ice off of our airfield pavements.RS&H, the designer and engineer of record for both portions of the project, solidified plans for the South Deicing Complex in December Planning for the South Deicing Complex began around 2016.2019, and construction began in early 2021. At that time, ATL had 17 deicing padssome on the north side of the airfield and dedicated pads at Concourse E. After consultingFlexibility was at the top of ATLs wish list for the new facilities. its carriers, ATL determined that additional deicing capacity wasAs designed, the new South Deicing Complex will be able to deice warranted. There were some interesting planning discussionsup to 10 Group III airplanes, five Group V airplanes or a mixture around what is a reasonable worst-case deicing event andof the two. We wanted a facility that could flex during the day, what do we need to do to support that from an infrastructureNissalke explains. For example, during our international departure perspective, Nissalke recalls. push, which is more or less 3 p.m. to 9 p.m., we wanted to have that additional Group V deicing capability available. Some of the last land available for development on ATLs 4,700 acres was on the south side of the airfield. That was also the onlyThe south airfield location shortens the time from deicing to option for the large footprint the project required. Specifically,takeoff, making operations that much more efficient.designers slotted the new facility into an infield and apron areaDale Stubbs, a vice president with RS&H, immediately north of and in between the South Cargo Facilitynotes that the project team held multiple and a technical operations hangar for Delta Air Lines. A roughlymeetings with stakeholders to design facilities 2,400-foot-long section of Taxiway R forms the northern border ofthat will allow crews to safely, efficiently and the site. The new deicing administration building and tank farm arecomfortably deice aircraft and keep traffic located south of the aprons, with access to Airport Loop Road.flowing smoothly. Airlines tapped into their Key components of the new complex include:experiences at ATLs other deicing facilities 14,000-square-foot operations building with virtual controlto tell designers what really works and whatDALE STUBBStowerwould make their operations more efficient.five bays for fueling and filling deicing trucks with glycol Inside the administration/operations building, virtual controltwo climate-controlled bays for truck maintenancetower equipment will allow airlines to use cameras to manage upapproximately 200,000 square yards of airfield pavement to 10 aircraft on the ramp. The control room has seven separate airline stations, with seating for eight personnel. Locker rooms AirportImprovement.comMarch | April 2022'