188 www. bus- ex. com JANUARY 10 " Basically, anything that needs building in an airport we can do," adds Steve Jensen, project manager for Austin's latest work at the airport. Austin Commercial was recently selected as the construction manager at risk for the new, $ 425 million, 1.5- million- square- foot Bradley West Terminal Project at Los Angeles International Airport. This new terminal will include 10 gates with concourse area and passenger boarding areas. Preconstruction will end in early 2010, with construction starting soon afterward. The company's airport pedigree was further enhanced in 2005 with the completion of the 2.1- million- square-foot International Terminal D at Dallas/ Fort Worth International Airport, and Austin is currently serving as construction manager at Sacramento International Airport and Ontario International Airport. With its exemplary track record, it came as little surprise that when Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport wanted to construct a new car rental parking area, they turned to Austin. " We built a very nice parking facility for eight major car rental companies and a further space for a group of four others," states Lauer. " The complex included three levels of parking plus a customer service level and areas for maintenance and car washes." It was while working on the rental car project that the Austin team began to recognize the potential of Phoenix Sky Harbor and made the decision to pursue work on the expansion of the checkpoints. " We won the contract to build bigger lanes in Terminals 3 and 4," Lauer explains, " and started ahead of schedule in 2005 and under budget. This project has taken five years to complete." The task in question was to expand four passenger bridges that were not large enough to accommodate the Transportation Security Administration ( TSA) screening equipment. The bridge dimensions of 60 feet wide by 130 feet long needed to change to 150 feet wide by 130 feet long. Austin's job was to increase the number of lanes at two checkpoints in Terminal 4 and two in Terminal 3. The project was fraught with difficulties; after all, the airport needed to continue to operate with minimum disruption to staff and passengers alike. Given that Phoenix's busiest road, the Sky Harbor Roadway, ran right through the area of construction, Lauer and Jensen spent months of planning prior to construction work to coordinate schedules. " We went through lots of pre- work review to ensure that the roadway was always open in daylight hours and that only one of the three areas of road was closed at any one time in the evenings. We decided to build a bridge over the roadway, while underneath was a six- level structure alongside Terminal 4, connecting it to the concourses. We were effectively working in a box," explains Jensen. " Coordination involved airlines, TSA, ground operations staff, security, the construction management group and even the police officers on duty, so everyone was involved," Jensen continues. " It was an ongoing process, and we kept everyone involved; discussions only ended about two weeks before we handed over the area." " Customer satisfaction is our biggest focus, and we were determined to avoid causing traffic jams or interrupting flights," adds Lauer. " The owners couldn't have been

on site when possible and ductwork to LEED standards. " Our business is 100 percent employee- owned, so when we complete a job, the quality has our name on it," explains Jensen. That philosophy has also carried through to safety, and the company lived up to its national acclaim by recording zero accidents on a project that encompassed 26 million change orders. Additionally, Austin has received special recognition for its diversity program, which provides opportunities to women and minorities through purchasing and through the company's hiring and promotion practices. " We look at projects to determine how we can de- bundle packages and get the community involved," says Lauer. True to its reputation, Austin cut the ribbon on the new Checkpoint C on November 20, three weeks ahead of schedule and just in time for Thanksgiving. For passengers, it's the beginning of a new journey, but for Lauer and Jensen it represented journey's end on another airport project. Austin Commercial, Inc.: Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport JANUARY 10 www. bus- ex. com 189 happier with the results we achieved, and the key was the good relationships we fostered and the customer focus." Having overcome coordination challenges, the company was able to utilize its knowledge of 3D BIM ( building information modeling) software to dramatically speed up the construction phase. This proved hugely beneficial when problems arose with the placement of giant steel beams, and Jensen says that the model was able to identify exactly what the root of the problem was, resulting in the beams being put up in four days rather than four weeks. " It definitely took a month off the schedule by saving us the effort of trial and error, while our rework change orders dropped to virtually zero. If people came to us with problems, we were able to look at the model and identify where subcontractors had not stuck to the original models," Jensen says. While the Phoenix project has not been LEED accredited, Austin has maintained its high standard of quality with a view to sustainability, carrying out recycling