Updates
May 2006 – It’s Under Way
Some of you have no doubt noticed the work on the former site of the Budget Building near the airport entrance. Around the end of May, the taxi building will be moved there, and the taxis themselves will follow shortly thereafter. At the same time, parking lots are to be put in near the current site of the taxi waiting area, just north of the terminal across from Hangar 11. Around June 19, all employees who currently park in lots E1 and E2 will be moved there.
These changes will allow the work to start on moving the water and sewer pipes that supply the old terminal. Once these pipes are moved, we can begin excavating for the expansion of the terminal. If everything goes according to the current schedule, the excavation should start around the beginning of August. This means that, between now and then, our contractors will be busy taking up the asphalt from the parking lots, relocating the communication conduits, re-aligning the sidewalk leading from P4 to the terminal, etc. We will be under construction for the next two years…and it seems as though we just got settled into the new terminal.
To date, the planning for the terminal expansion is going smoothly: tenders are within budget and deadlines are being met. However, some of us had forgotten the effort needed to support the team of architects and engineers who are to prepare the plans and estimates. One of the lessons learned during Phase I of the expansion project is the need to incorporate airport employees as early as possible into the team that prepares the plans and estimates. We did this successfully during the parking structure expansion, and we are doing the same now for the terminal. The call for tenders for the construction of the terminal expansion should occur around mid-June, with tender opening at the end of July.