b'PHOTO: GARVER50 BNA RUNWAYSReconfiguring runway and taxiway exits prevented long taxi routes during construction. operations to the west-most runway and moving other traffic togeothermal cooling system by adding two new 36-inch steel casing the center runway to keep noise under control. pipes. This will allow an expansion on the current geothermal Airfield Operations did a wonderful job of analyzing howsystem that cools nearly a million square feet of terminal space. they wanted to reconfigure airfield use during the 18 monthsWe decided not to expand the geothermal system with this of construction, Sisemore says. As a result, the airlines didntproject, but rather to put ourselves in a better position for that in overly suffer from long taxi routes. the future, Holton explains, noting that the strategy demonstrates Garver brought in Atkins North America to help improve theBNAs focus on resilience. efficiency of the runway and taxiway exits. The project facedThe airport invested todays dollars to install this corridor so a significant geometrical challenge in that it was necessarythey can expand without affecting the runway or parallel taxiway, to remove the current high-speed taxiway exits that were notadds Sisemore. All the needed infrastructure to cross the airfield supported by current FAA standards, Sisemore explains.is now in place. Because of the operational density and runway to taxiwayThe airport also seized an opportunity to improve its electrical separation, the next connector taxiways had to be perpendicular. resilience. Previously, a single electrical feed supplied the terminal, Atkins examined multiple potential solutions and ultimatelybut BNA added a second utility corridor across the airfield while selected locations for Taxiway H3 and H4 (the primary runwayreconstructing the main runway.exits from each direction) because they balanced the time anHolton explains that Nashville Electric Service previously had arriving aircraft occupied the runway with capture ratios.two independent feeds coming into BNA. However, those feeds Atkins also corrected the runway profile to meet FAAcame to a common point, and then fed electricity into the terminal requirements by shifting the north vertical curve outside the endbuilding. We now have two geographically separated redundant quarter of the runway and thereby lifting a portion of the runwaypower feeds for greater electrical reliability, she says.by as much as 2.5 feet. Sisemore cited Dave Schilling andJust as airport leaders incorporated resilience and sustainability Jennifer Casterline of Atkins as key contributors throughout theelements into the recent runway reconstruction project, they will course of design and construction. fold them into future phases of the BNA Vision program. Future plans include a new garage complex, concourse, international Focus on the Future arrivals facility and additional airline gates. During the runway reconstruction project, crews installed redundantENGINEERED SOLUTIONSpiping underneath the runway and taxiway for the airports May | June 2022AirportImprovement.com'