AIRPORT IMPROVEMENT MAGAZINE- January 24, 2025
“In response to significant traffic growth, Norfolk International Airport (ORF) has undertaken a major initiative to enhance customer parking and improve its efficiency. With just short of 5 million annual passengers projected by the end of 2024, the Virginia airport is addressing its current parking capacity while laying the groundwork for future expansion. Strategic upgrades totaling $72 million include a new 3,200-space parking garage, resurfacing of the East Lot, a garage space availability measurement system and a new Park and Wait Lot. These projects are part of a $1 billion capital improvement program to transform the airport over the next five to six years.
In 2022, the airport surpassed the 4 million passenger mark for the first time and then served more than 4.5 million passengers in 2023. Through November 2024, ORF was on track to exceed 4.9 million passengers—an increase of nearly 25% in just three years. “We expect that growth to continue, and with that, we’ve had a huge demand in parking,” says ORF President and Chief Executive Officer Mark Perryman.
Although the airport is in an urban setting, it has a distinct lack of public transportation. With no rail, light rail or bus service, many travelers arrive in private vehicles—thus, the need for more parking as airside traffic continues to grow.
To complete Garage D, ORF selected Gresham Smith for architectural design and Hourigan for construction; Baker Concrete Construction was instrumental in the cast-in-place concrete project. EnSight Technologies and FAAC Parking Solutions (HUB Parking Technology) were brought in to implement an advanced AI-based parking guidance and occupancy management system throughout the airport’s four parking garages (A, B, C and D) and the East surface lot. ORF partnered with Excel Paving Corp. for the resurfacing of the East Lot and Compo Construction for the Park & Wait Lot.”
Challenges and Opportunities
The various parking improvement projects required careful planning to meet growing customer needs while minimizing disruptions. Airport management fast-tracked the Park and Wait Lot with simultaneous design and construction to meet various deadlines, including the need to accommodate the long-eared bat migration. Despite labor shortages and contractor scheduling challenges, the project team managed to finish in time for the busy holiday travel period.
Construction of the new Garage D was difficult because of its location and constrained nature of the project site, but Sutherland reports that those hurdles were cleared, too. “To me, it just went brilliantly,” she remarks. “When you really look at the space constraints and the area that it had to be dropped in—right up against the terminal, right up against our main exit plaza—the challenges that presented themselves were certainly understandable.”
Naturally, safety was a focus for the contractor, Hourigan. Bart Dexter, vice president of the company’s Hampton Roads Business Unit, notes that the constant movement of people and vehicles required special vigilance. “We needed to make sure from that challenge, that we had our logistics squared away, that the site was safe,” says Dexter. Using two tower cranes required constant attention to proper barricades, signage and egress to ensure safety for workers and the public.
Onsite challenges during the project included a high water table requiring well points, precise elevation coordination with the Arrivals Terminal and careful digging to protect vital communication utilities.
Designers faced challenges trying to integrate an existing stairway and elevator tower with misaligned floor elevations due to sloped garage floors. Plans to modernize the structure were complicated by the tower’s slight shift over time. “After 15 years, the tower had come somewhat out of plumb, and it was determined that a full replacement of all three elevators was more appropriate,” Amos remarks. The new garage was built with split elevations on the lowest two levels to accommodate the floor heights, tying into an existing building with a partially underground base, requiring significant waterproofing and dewatering during construction.
EnSight Technologies helped minimize costs by reusing existing digital signage. To do so, it gathered network and configuration details and integrated cameras to ensure accurate content. The project team needed to balance installation of the new system with ongoing operation of the existing one to avoid disruptions for patrons. Full configuration, testing and transition is going live in January 2025. The two systems run side-by-side while technicians validate the new system and EnSight plans the cutover process.”
Read the full article here.
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