b'68 George Bush IntercontinentalIAH FUELINGUpgrades Fueling OperationsBY MIKE SCHWANZOnce the COVID-19 pandemic eased, travelers startedat the airport) and Burns & McDonnell, the consortiums chief surging back in record numbers to George Bushdesign, engineering and construction consultant for the project. Intercontinental Airport (IAH) in Houston.Preliminary planning started back in 2015, when IAH Fuel hired In 2023, the Texas airfield handled more than 46 millionBurns & McDonnell. The firms first step was to have several passengersa 12.7% increase from 2022. And traffic this year ismembers of its technical team visit the facility, and it quickly expected to easily top that. became apparent the whole system was due for improvements To meet the corresponding demand for fuel,and upgrades.IAH executives knew major improvementsThe original fuel farm was built in the late were needed for the airports fueling system.1960s. Everything needed upgrades, including We had to add two more fuel storage tankspumps, storage tanks and electrical systems, to the 10 we already had in our fuel station,states Mark Lundquist, an associate project says Jim Szczesniak, director of Aviation formanager with Burns & McDonnell. The the Houston Airport System. In addition, ourpumps were getting old and needed constant aging infrastructure, such as the old pumpingJIM SZCZESNIAK maintenance to stay in service. The electronics system, had to be modernized. and communications systems also wereMARK LUNDQUISTThe airports master plan, created several years ago, charted theoutdated. For example, fiber optic cable is a need for more capacity. To make this happen, the airport workedmodern standard that was not used five decades ago. closely with IAH Fuel Company (a consortium of 31 airlines based September 2024AirportImprovement.com'