b'RUNWAYSBWI 35A Long Time Coming maintenance and a reduced power draw, The airports previous airfield lighting vaulthe relates.came online in the mid-1980s and residedYou cant just take out the old lightbulb in a portion of a fire station located offand replace it with a new lightbulb. The the ends of concourses B and C. The firenew lightbulb is entirely different, Shank department relocated to a new facilityexplains. So we were talking about more in 1997, but the lighting gear remainedthan just a new building.and was later expanded throughout theIn fact, equipment building.for the airports BWI intended to add a purpose- previous airfield built lighting vault in 2019, thoughlighting vault the project was slightly delayedandhad become so then more extensively delayed byantiquated that the global pandemic in 2020. Theworkers routinely subsequent design process requiredscrambled to findJOSHUA LOVEnearly 18 months to complete, followedsuitable replacement by a year and a half of constructionparts. For some preventive maintenance, beginning in February 2023. In additionparts orders took as long as 50 weeks to to constructing the vault building, thearrive, reports Joshua Love, chief facility project also included site excavation;maintenance officer for BWIs Electrical additional utility ductwork and cabling; aDepartment.new 30-foot-wide apron surrounding theLoves team pulled pieces from older structure; and a new vehicle service road. devices to create a makeshift parts Shank was a young project engineerinventory, though integrating old with when the airports former lighting vaultnew was often less than optimal. And came online inside the firehouse. Hiseven that approach had its limitations.running joke with BWIs recently departedWhen those began to run low, there Executive Director and Chief Executivewas no other solution but to build a new Officer Ricky Smith was that Shank has(vault), Love explains.outlasted itand many other projects built early in his BWI career. The Electrical Departments Baltimore Gas and Electric come from bothproductivity has skyrocketed since the the north and south for more redundancy,They literally wear out before I do, facility opened, he adds. and preventive measures were also addedhe laughs.to reduce the risk of arc flashes insideKidding aside, Shank notes that theEmployees played a hands-on role these highly electrified spaces. culture of Maryland and its governmentin optimizing the new vault. After an agencies skews toward frugality. Asinternal group spent close to two years Shank and others throughout theevaluating how new constant-current industry collectively gasped this Marcha result, BWI is especially careful toregulators could best function at BWI, when a fire at an offsite electricalmaximize the longevity and efficiency ofthe building includes more room to work substation took Londons Heathrowits infrastructure.and remove parts. Feedback also helped Airport (LHR) offline for nearly a full day.When we spend a dollar, we like todesigners craft helpful small touches, The unfortunate incident promptedget a dollar or two return on investment,such as customized graphics for the memories of less-significant, but stillhe says. And were really good atairfield lighting control and monitoring noticeable, electrical disruptions at BWIit. Case in point: BWIs repurposedsystem.over the years, as well as confidence infire station still served the airport for the airports new lighting vault. In fact,nearly 30 years after its aircraft rescueYou can double click and get real-Shank suspects it could help woo airlinesfirefighters departed for their then-newtime updates on each regulator, each considering new routes at the Marylanddigs across the field. piece of equipment and what its doing, gateway. says Love. We now have rooms that are Still, Shank concedes the old airfieldabsolutely dialed-in per task.New entrants look at yourlighting vault had become long in the infrastructure and what is the risk that thetooth. Electrical codes have evolvedBetter Location, Better Designairport facility will not accommodate theirsignificantly since the late 90s, as hasBeyond the old fire stations age and ill-fit operations, he says. Our ALV [airfieldequipment. Fiber optic control systemsdesign for housing lighting infrastructure, lighting vault] is now a selling point. have replaced outdated copper wiring,its location creates a choke point for and todays computers offer easier AirportImprovement.comMay | June 2025'