Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport $326M Expansion Starts
By David Holzel CEG CORRESPONDENT
In 2024, more than 52 million travelers passed through Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport. It was the busiest year for the airport, which is Arizona’s most powerful economic driver — generating an estimated $44.3 billion annually.
To stay ahead of the almost constant growth in passenger traffic and today’s larger aircraft, the airport in April broke ground on a $326 million expansion that will add six gates to Terminal 3 and, the project’s partners say, support Phoenix Sky Harbor as “America’s Friendliest Airport.”
“We’re always looking at different and innovative ways to maintain construction but also maintaining all operations — and passenger experience is always the priority,” said Brandon Moon, vice president of operations of McCarthy Building
Cos., the contractor for the 173,000-sq.-ft. multilevel concourse.
Terminal 3 handles 25 percent of the airport’s passenger traffic annually.
“Everything that we look at we look at through the lens of, how is this going to affect operations?” Moon added. “How is this [construction] going to affect the passenger? — and let’s make sure that we don’t impact them.”
The new North 2 Concourse is designed by HOK in collaboration with DFDG Architecture.
The project is pursuing a minimum of LEED Silver certification through the U.S. Green Building Council.
The concourse is part of an expedited development plan, said Roxann Favors, assistant aviation director for the Phoenix Airport systems and interim chief development officer.
The multi-level design includes:
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HOK rendering
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McCarthy Building Cos. photo
Demolition work is under way at Phoenix’s Sky Harbor International Airport.
McCarthy Building Again Working at Phoenix Airport
• Passenger level with gate hold rooms, public restrooms and spaces for future retail or tenant build-outs;
• Upper mezzanine level with a lounge, back-of-house areas and an exterior terrace; and
• Apron level accommodating aircraft services and providing essential support spaces.
• A connector bridge will link the concourse to the existing Terminal 3 processor.
Then there’s the view.
As a perk of the user experience, the lounge and terrace were designed with views of Camelback Mountain, a prominent landmark of the Phoenix metropolitan area, and downtown Phoenix, said Jonathan Meier, the lead project manager of HOK on this project.
Said Favors: “We have the natural beauty there. So why not take advantage of welcoming everybody to Phoenix through those views?”
Sky Harbor presented its 20-year long-range Comprehensive Asset Management Plan (CAMP) in 2019.
“In 2022, when we did an update to the CAMP, we realized that we needed to bring those gates on a lot quicker than our original master plan had called for within that five- to sevenyear period of time,” Favors said. “We needed to bring that forward. As our airport director would say, if we had these six gates today, our airline partners will fill them right now.”
The expansion is expected to be completed in 2027. But the comprehensive plan also envisions a new terminal on the west side of the airport campus. The West Terminal will be built near where the former Terminals 1 and 2 once stood.
The West Terminal will be a more complex project, Favors said.
“This new N2 is the last footprint that we can build on to the existing Terminal 3 without some improvements to the roadways and the connection on to the West terminal. And it’s also meeting the capacity of what the terminal buildings themselves from a ticket processing and back handling processing could handle.
“So that’s why we’ve said that we now have turned our attention to the environment,” she said. “There are processes to get completed for us to build the West Terminal. So, there’s, of course, FAA environmental clearances that you have to go through before you put one shovel in the ground for a new building.”
Preliminary work includes infrastructure and underground utility mapping.
“There’s a taxiway to the north, a taxiway to the east, and then we’ve got a concourse to our west,” said Thomas Assante, senior project director of McCarthy Building Cos. “And then also we've got the terminal, Sky Harbor Boulevard and the FAA tower to the south. You can imagine that there’s a lot of utilities that run through underground.”
Meier, of HOK, said the plans reflect 21st-century changes in airport design and management.
“I would say on the sustainability front and on the user experience front are two aspects of airport design that have really evolved in the last 20-25 years,” he said.
In 2025, “user” includes those who work in the building as well as travelers.
“It’s not just providing amenities like restaurants,” Meier said. “And charging facilities for your phone. It’s also, what do they feel when they walk through a space? What do they see? What do they not see? How do the staff feel when they work in that facility?”
Added Favors, “I would say that many airports in the United States over the last five-to-10 years have been looking at the same challenges as Sky Harbor.
“We have certain facilities that are aging that need to be modernized or redeveloped but also need to bring online new facilities to be able to do that.
“When you have thriving communities, you have thriving
airports,” she said, “and so you have to build.”
Work at the airport has been a constant in recent years.
Started in May 2019, an eighth concourse (including eight new gates) was added to Terminal 4.
The $310 million construction project was completed in spring 2022. Also led by McCarthy Building Cos., the 275,000 sq.-ft. project included approximately 25,000 sq. ft. for retail, food and beverage concessions.
Terminal 4 is the largest at Sky Harbor. That concourse is located at the southwest corner of the terminal 1 and will house 92 gates to accommodate future increased passenger travel. CEG
McCarthy Building Cos. photo
Support pillars are drilled during the Terminal 4 project, a previous McCarthy Building project..
McCarthy Building Cos. photo Crews prepare the Terminal 4 ground for construction
McCarthy Building Cos. photo
McCarthy Building Cos. is experienced in airport construction projects.
McCarthy Building Cos. photo McCarthy Building Cos. crew members survey the work site.
McCarthy Building Cos.
McCarthy Building Cos. holds a safety meeting at the start of the work day. AIRPORT
Ames Federal Starts Hyrum Dam Spillway Replacement
The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation announced in March that it awarded a $115 million contract to Ames Federal Contracting Group of Burnsville, Minn., for the construction of a new spillway on Hyrum Dam in Hyrum, Utah, according to cachevalleydaily.com.
The dam’s original 24-in. outlet will be replaced with 36-in. piping, quadrupling the outlet’s discharge capacity from 50 cu. ft. per second to 200 cu. ft. per second.
“The spillway at Hyrum Dam is used every year to release excess water downstream, and though continuous maintenance has occurred on the spillway since its construction, the 90-year-old structure is in need of replacement,” said Wayne Pullan, Reclamation Upper Colorado Basin regional director.
Provo Area Office Manager Rick Baxter said construction should last about three years.
“Working with our project partners, Reclamation will continue to take every precaution at Hyrum Dam,” he said. “That includes our current work to expand the size of the dam’s outlet works so more water can be conveyed through the outlet and alleviate additional stress on the existing spillway until a new one is built. ... When the new spillway is complete, it will be a similar design it will look somewhat the same.”
Cachevalleydaily.com reported that the construction funding is secure because it falls under the safety of dam funding.
“It has to be approved by Congress and should not be under scrutiny by the current administration,” Baxter said. “We hope the construction will begin in June.”
The South Cache Water Users Association (SCWUA) operates and maintains the dam.
A Reclamation press release said that the SCWUA has minimized the amount of water released through the spillway. When spillway releases peaked in recent years, Reclamation monitored around-the-clock to assess the possibility of spillway failure. It staged heavy equipment and riprap material near the spillway in case immediate action was needed.
Dam construction began in 1934 and was completed the following year. It was built as a rolled earth and rockfill structure that included 352,000 cu. yds. of earth fill; 62,000 cu. yds. of rockfill; and 13,000 cu. yds. of riprap and gravel blanket.
The dam on Little Bear River impounds a total capacity of 18,685 acre-ft. of water storage for irrigation and municipal use. It has a surface area of 480 acres of water. The South Cache Water Users Association uses that water used for irrigation. The area also is used for recreation and fishing.
(All photos courtesy of U.S. Bureau of Reclamation.)
Hyrum Dam
ADOT: Work Starts On I-17 Wildlife Overpass Near Flagstaff
The Arizona Department of Transportation started work in April on an Interstate 17 project to construct an overpass crossing for wildlife south of Flagstaff.
The project, funded through a federal grant, is an effort to improve wildlife habitat connections while reducing the risk of crashes involving animals, especially elk and deer.
ADOT is partnering with the Arizona Game and Fish
Department on the $15.8 million wildlife overpass project, 12 miles south of Flagstaff, which also will install 8-foot-tall wildlife fencing along more than 8 miles of the interstate. This stretch has no bridges and only one road culvert suitable for use by elk and deer.
The earth- and native vegetation-covered wildlife overpass north of Willard Springs Road (milepost 327.4) will be 100 ft. wide and designed to allow a variety of animals, ranging from bears to elk, to cross over the highway. Two bridge spans will include steel-reinforced concrete girders. The project is scheduled for completion by fall 2026.
Most funding for the project comes from a grant through the Federal Highway Administration’s Wildlife Crossings Pilot Program.
Crews will pave temporary I-17 median crossovers in the area to allow traffic to be shifted to one side of the highway, as needed, to limit closures while the overpass is being built. Safety barrier walls will be placed between the two directions of travel.
Drivers should allow extra travel time when I-17 is narrowed to one lane in each direction for the project. The area that involves the new
overpass and fencing construction accounted for 58 percent of crashes involving wildlife from Stoneman Lake Road to Flagstaff between 2018 and 2022. And within that longer 32mi. stretch, about 75 percent of all crashes with wildlife involve elk, which can weigh up to 1,100 pounds. (All images courtesy of the Arizona Department of Transportation.)
Colo. Timber Bridge Preservation Project Begins On 21 Bridges
Starting in early June, the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) will begin preserving the structural integrity of 21 timber bridges on various highways in El Paso, Park and Teller counties.
The purpose of the project is to extend the lifespans of the bridges by making needed reinforcements and upgrades to ensure the safety of the traveling public. The project has an expected duration of up to six months. Lobato Construction was selected as the prime contractor for the $1.8 million project
Work will begin on U.S. 24 near Ramah in El Paso County and progress west, finishing along Colorado Highway 9 in Park County. Work includes making structural reinforcements by adding steel sister beams to damaged timber girders.
Timber bridges were built in primarily rural areas as a cost-effective and aesthetically pleasing alternative to steel and concrete structures. Regular maintenance along with preservation measures will ensure the structures meet today's standards of load-bearing capacity, durability and longevity.
“Maintaining and preserving these rural bridges is critical for the safety of the travel-
ing public,” said CDOT Region 2 Transportation Director Shane Ferguson. “By reinforcing the girders with steel beams and adding other safety features, we can extend the lifespan of the structures for many years to come.”
Colorado Department of Transportation graphic
This map of El Paso, Teller and Park counties highlights the work on bridges on U.S. 24 east of Colorado Springs and U.S. 24, Colorado 67 and Colorado 9 in Teller and Park counties.
A map of the area that will feature the wildlife overpass.
This stretch of Interstate 17 south of Flagstaff, Ariz., will be the site of a newly built wildlife overpass.
