b'20 ORD TERMINALSMasri credits Austin Power Partners, the constructionWe eliminate tons and tons of drywall waste, says Bickford. manager at risk, for providing solid support throughout theProject designers enhanced the exterior walls of the terminal project. The entire APP team has been very supportive andaddition with about 85,000 square feet of white and gray helpful in ensuring our success in a very complex environment,aluminum plate cladding from Sobotec. The durability and he says.performance of the specialty finish applied to the panels will ensure the terminal maintains its aesthetic for many years, says Project LogisticsChris Webb, vice president of Sales for Sobotec. The finish is During construction, contractors used 3,000also backed by a 20-year warranty, he notes.feet of modular, reusable walls that telescope up to the ceiling to shield airport guests andDuring various phases of the project, ORD added 34 new staff from active worksites. Bruce Bickford,boarding bridges from TK Airport Solutions to further enhance vice president of Product Development atpassengers travel experience; 58 walkways were installed to STARC Systems, explains that RealWallserve as extensions to bridges.is a painted white aluminum panel systemGlobal pandemic notwithstanding, contactors did their best to designed to look just like a finished wall,finish construction and renovations largely on schedule. Despite complete with hinged doors. It presentsBRUCE BICKFORD a lot of roller coaster ups and downs, we opened the first a nice, finished appearance with a durable, robust-lookinggates in the extension on time, Hoxie reports. Im very proud structure, he remarks. People sit next to it and lean against it,of the team for being able to do that under very challenging and dont even notice it is a temporary wall. conditions.The reusable nature of the product dovetailed with ORDsHe was also pleased with the participation rate of sustainability goals for the project. Instead of tossing demolisheddisadvantaged business enterprises. More than 37% of all drywall into dumpsters after a given phase, contractors movedexpenditures on the project went to minority- or women-owned and reconfigured RealWall panels for use in the next location.companiesexceeding the original 26% minorityand 6% women-owned targets. That was a real good attribute to the project, Hoxie remarks.Widespread TransformationHaving T5 online for both domestic and international traffic has significantly changed the atmosphere and pace within the terminal. Previously, the facility was very busy when batches of long international flights arrived and left, but downright sleepy in between those bursts. With a more diverse mix of traffic, the terminal stays at a steadier level of activity. As intended, the new facility is taking some of the operational burden off T2. After the airport finishes the two new satellite concourses for T1, crews will demolish T2 in phases to make way for the new 2.2-million-square-foot Global Terminal.Also under construction is a six-story parking garage directly across from T5. When completed next year, the new structure will replace the current surface parking facility and more than double parking capacity at the terminal with a mix of short- and long-term options. Commissioner Rhee again ties all of the pieces together: The new and renovated gates in Terminal 5, along with the additional gates that will be gained by constructing the satellite concourses, will allow [our] airline partners to operate without any loss of gate capacity while the OHare 21 team works to replace Terminal 2 with the new OHare Global Terminal. This phased approach is essential to the success of this monumental investment.In NASA parlance, its all systems go at ORD. September 2023AirportImprovement.com'