65 AirportImprovement.com May | June 2026 PARKING GSP “We had 22 people from our company contribute over the course of the build,” she relates. “At peak construction, we also had a total of 150 workers on-site on a given day. In all, we calculated that it took 346,000 work-hours to get this done.” Since LCK was the airport’s representative, Bailey reported to it about the progress of work. “Hiring subcontractors was my company’s responsibility, but I often consulted with Scott [Rush] on soliciting bids and drawing up their contracts. “We used a lot of subcontractors,” she adds. “I estimate that we had between 60 to 65 entities working for us during this project.” In addition to its three project managers, Brasfield & Gorrie had several superintendents onsite to help manage installation. Typically, the company had at least four staff people there at any given time. “And I was there nearly 100% of the time,” Bailey adds. Throughout the project, she made it a point to keep LCK and airport management informed about ongoing construction and potential issues that could affect its progress. “I think that helped keep everyone on the same page,” Bailey reasons. Executing a double-strand helix at two corners of the garage was a particular challenge. The design allows rental car customers to enter and exit in one area, while the general public enters and exits from a different spot. The separate ramps ensure that the two traffic streams do not intersect at any point. The tricky part was that the helixes had to join up with the main parking garage at each level. “We did a three-dimensional model of this, which we showed to our various workers,” Bailey shares. “Once the project was green- lighted and funded, we then made a virtual model of this helix system, and color-coded it to match the schedule.” This undoubtedly helped work stay on schedule throughout the two-year project. “We had 178 weather impact days throughout the 22-month construction schedule, which we managed without any impacts to the overall construction scheduled,” Bailey reports. “The one surprise we had involved weather delays due to fog. We had four cranes on-site, all of which were in the flight path of aircraft. Every morning and evening, we were required to notify the air traffic control tower for approval to raise our crane, and then to notify them we had completed work for the day. On particularly foggy mornings, we would not receive approval to raise our booms. In those cases, the aircraft took priority of the available air space until the visible conditions improved. This level of collaboration was necessary to ensure smooth and safe operations for GSP and Brasfield & Gorrie.” “Overall, we were lucky,” she reflects. “The winter of 2024- 2025 was fairly mild. We did not get the snow and ice that hit this region hard in late January and early February 2026.” Another challenge involved adding a new exit plaza with pay stations very close to the old pay stations, which were later demolished. “We had to install a new pay station of three lanes
View this content as a flipbook by clicking here.