ATLANTA — A historic move at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport put air operations on a brief pause Wednesday morning as crews work to expand the airport’s smallest concourse.
Work wrapped up at about 3:30 a.m. Wednesday to transport a 30-foot by 170-foot structure a little over a mile over airport runways. The structure will become part of the new Concourse D.
It’s a first-of-its-kind project at the Atlanta Airport.
“We’ve never taken a building across our airfield,” said Todd McClendon of ATLNext. “That is quite an undertaking.”
In order to widen the 44-year-old Concourse D from 60 to 90 feet in width, crews will build fifteen structures at a modular yard just north of Hartsfield’s 5th runway.
The giant structures are lifted onto wheels and moved into place one by one. Over the coming months, this work will take place each Wednesday morning while passengers roam the old Concourse D, catching their flights with little disruption.
“Keep the public traveling, maintain no more than eight gate closures at a time,” McClendon said. “We’ve had to design something that can roll on wheels so to speak, so there’s been a lot of structural design to allow us to do that. It’s not traditional for sure. This was a game changer.”
It all takes coordination with the Federal Aviation Administration to pause air travel while the structures are moved. Planning is required to make sure the structures under construction will fit with the concourse over a mile away.
“We’ve had a second group survey it, we’ve had a third group survey it and compare all our numbers to make sure what we’re taking over will fit right in,” said McClendon.
After all of the pieces are in place, work will still be needed to connect the new structures to the old building fully. The entire project is scheduled to wrap up in 2029.