A SOARING Success

C.D. Smith flies through airport project

Austin Straubel International Airport Concourse B

By Brendan O'Brien

Photo courtesy of C.D. Smith Construction Inc.

Imagine rushing through a crowded airport.

Now imagine constructing a 45,000-square-foot concourse in the same crowded airport.

That's what C.D. Smith Construction Inc. accomplished when the Fond du Lac contractor completed construction of Concourse B at Austin Straubel International Airport in Green Bay.

"We have done work in airports in the past but nothing like this, where we have to actually cross the path of planes," said Greg Sabel, C.D. Smith's project manager.

"We are used to dealing with vehicle and pedestrian traffic, but 747s is certainly a new element."

The contractor also had to deal with security provisions that kept construction workers from freely moving in and out of the site. C.D. Smith kept to a defined hauling route painted on the pavement and followed strict security measures.

"A gate guard … inspected trucks and talked to [workers] and then radioed some of the personnel on the site," Sabel said. "We had to visually be able to see that truck leave the gate and come into the site."

The guard, site superintendent and control tower communicated by radio and directed traffic.

"Once it got going, you knew the patterns of the flights," Sabel said. "We constantly would be sweeping the concrete because if any rock or anything falls off these trucks, jets can suck it right up. The amount of time to make sure that people got out there safely and the area was clean was unbelievable."

The result of the coordination is a stately airport concourse with six boarding gates, a members' lounge and a children's area. The interior features a porcelain tile floor, 20-foot ceilings and nine illuminating skylights.

	Project Name: Austin Straubel International Airport Concourse B Location: Green Bay Submitting Company: C.D. Smith Construction Inc., Fond du Lac General Contractor: C.D. Smith Construction Inc. Architect: Mead & Hunt, Madison Engineer: Mead & Hunt Owner: Brown County Project Cost: $9.2 million Start Date: May 2003 Completion Date: September 2004

"It was just a neat project because we got to do stuff that you don't typically get to do," Sabel said. "With the high ceilings and the ceramic, they are really trying to impress people coming in. It is fun to do a building where it's that kind of wow factor when you walk in."

C.D. Smith constructed the exterior of the concourse with large metal panels and massive glass curtain walls. Each section needed to be precisely measured before the contractor placed the material order.

"It had to be field measured," Sabel said. "There were too many ins and outs to take a gamble on those panels. They are expensive items. There was a lot of coordination on the outside, but it turned out perfect."

The design of the concourse involved many corners and angles.

"There are not many straight lines," Sabel said. "That was probably the most difficult thing about the layout. You were just turning 30 feet here, and then you are taking a 90-degree angle. Everything was in, out, in, out."

The concourse sits on new, 2-foot thick concrete, and the specifications for that portion of the project were extremely rigid, he said.

"We were pouring 300 to 500 yards a day for a month and a half," Sabel said. "That was an incredibly intense project."