ENR’s companion article to their Top 400 Contractors list included an informative Aviation sidebar which profiled the Midfield Satellite Concourse South (MSC South) project.
This October, W.E. O’Neil Construction is set to complete a groundbreaking milestone at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) with the installation of nine massive building segments that will form the new Midfield Satellite Concourse South. The project is utilizing an innovative Offsite Construction and Relocation (OCR) technique, a first-of-its-kind approach at LAX, designed to minimize disruptions to airport operations and accelerate the construction schedule.
Each segment, averaging 80 feet by 110 feet by 40 feet and weighing up to 1,000 tons, will be nearly fully built before being carefully rolled into place. The decision to construct the concourse offsite was driven by the logistical challenges of working in a high-security airport environment. “Every worker, material, tool, or piece of equipment has to cross several runways just to get to the site,” says Brian Rush, Vice President of Preconstruction at W.E. O’Neil. “That was the challenge: how do you build more off-site and less on-site?”
To address this, the team created a landside construction yard by relocating the airport security fence and clearing 180,000 yards of dirt. This approach eliminates the need for workers and subcontractors to navigate complex airport security protocols, making the project more accessible and efficient.
Transporting and installing the massive concourse segments will require extraordinary precision. Each structure must be perfectly aligned with hundreds of anchor bolts, and laser-guided sensors will monitor for any movement during placement. “It should be a smooth ride,” says Rush, though the team has spent over a year meticulously planning every detail to ensure success.
The segments will be moved one at a time, with each relocation taking approximately three days. With the help of advanced surveying and monitoring systems, the team is confident in achieving a seamless installation.
Read ENR’s full profile here.
