DTW's North Terminal strives for on-time, on-budget opening in 2008

Upon opening in Summer 2008,Wayne County Airport Authority’s (WCAA) $418 million North Terminal project will complete modernization of all terminal facilities at Detroit MetropolitanWayne County Airport (DTW). The recently unveiled linear design and modern conveniences of the 820,000-square-foot facility will effectively compliment its midfield sister in design, the Edward H.

McNamara Terminal/Northwest WorldGateway. Currently under construction on the old site of the Davey Terminal, the North Terminal will replace both the aging L.C. Smith Terminal and the Michael Berry Terminal. All commercial airline activity, with the exception of Northwest Airlines and its SkyTeam Alliance partners, will shift to the facility upon completion. Domestic and international charters, principally operated by USA3000 and Champion Air, will also be accommodated in the new complex.

Planning

WCAA CEO Lester Robinson said the original budget for this program was set prior to September 11, at which time the objective was to renovate the original Davey Terminal. However, that idea was demolished, much like the Davey Terminal itself, when the WCAA Board surmised that new construction would be just as economical as renovation.

"[The Board] turned out to be right, and I think that was assisted by the poor condition of the construction industry in the State of Michigan," Robinson said.

"We have had great competitive prices on almost everything we've done with respect to this terminal, which has helped us immensely to keep this project on time and on budget." Another factor cited as contributing to the airport’s budgetary success is WCAA’s construction-manager-at-risk (CMR) contract with Walbridge Barton Malow and design-to-budget contract with Gensler.

"After hiring Gensler as master architect, we brought Walbridge Barton Malow on board as the Construction Manager at Risk very early in the design process so we could offer their expertise to the designer and contractor during the design process," explained North Terminal Project Director Jon Hypnar, AIA.

"What that has done for us - and in part has led to some of our very good bids - is familiarize the contractor with the design and what he was bidding. Also, the design documents could be improved through value engineering and reviews by the construction people who would ultimately have to build this." Robinson said the intent of the design-to-budget-type contract is to help the architect design in accordance with WCAA resources.

"In addition to the architect's estimates, the construction-manager-at-risk was able to estimate the costs of what the architect was drawing in a way to help us reconcile the costs," Robinson said, noting, "this project is ruled by budget more than anything."

Beyond initial planning, WCAA brought on Siemens as a master systems integrator to not only ensure all north terminal systems talk and operate together, but also to help the Authority make decisions that affect long-term operating costs.

"While the architect was looking at first cost choices, the master systems integrator helped us with looking at life cycle costs so that we could look at intelligent decisions not only in the beginning, but throughout the life of the project." continued Hypnar. "Although we didn't start design until very late in 2004, we are proceeding to keep the same budget and we are having great success in accomplishing that." Hypnar said the budget has not changed since the airlines approved a $418 million project in 2001.

Design

With a runway immediately to the west, an existing airport road system to the east, the old Smith Terminal to the south, and the Berry Terminal to the north, site constraints dictated a north terminal design that essentially could be classified as linear. In contrast to the Smith Terminal's pier-style terminal where aircraft oftentimes circle and wait for other aircraft to pull out of desired gates, the North Terminal's linear nature is expected to achieve greater efficiency for airlines in terms of both time and fuel savings. The North Terminal is also designed to be customer friendly.

"From a customer perspective, I can basically tell you we are very troubled that the old Berry and Smith Terminals, appearances and utilizations just don't fit today's environment for aviation," Robinson said. "The new facility will be a very big change for the passenger."

Robinson said the North Terminal will be modern, "something we tend to take for granted at the five-year-old McNamara terminal, but the passengers in the older terminals have not yet experienced."

Blue and green

Interior finishes are planned to be clean and efficient with terrazzo on the terminal floors and an abundance of glass walls to supply natural light and a feeling of openness. There will also be sufficient passenger cues for passenger wayfinding.

"There is quite a use of the color blue," Robinson said, noting that 'authority blue' will color the walls of transition points. "When you are going through the security checkpoint, the walls next to it are that same shade of blue."

Material changes also prevail with wood veneer finishes around the ‘smart’ screening checkpoint.

"The floor in the checkpoint area is removable, unlike at the McNamara Terminal" Robinson explained, "Anytime the TSA makes a change in their configuration or machinery, we will be capable of making the change very easily by moving panels and not having to redrill floors and fish for wires.

"Quite frankly, technology is changing rapidly so the facility's flexibility is very important here."

Hypnar mentioned that the facility is also 'green' in nature. "We have taken several steps so far in the demolition process and as we have moved forward to be a green facility," he said. "We have recycled and reused a number of the demolition materials in order to attain a higher level of environmental friendliness and we’re continuing to look at other items as we go through the design in order to make this a green facility."

Amenities

The new, two-level terminal will initially open with 26 gates and will be expandable to 31 gates, five of which WCAA will control as international, or swing, gates. British Airways and Lufthansa will relocate from the McNamara Terminal to the North Terminal to be in close proximity to their respective code share partners, American and United. For such international service, the terminal will include a federal inspection station (FIS) capable of processing 800 passengers per hour.

In addition to preferential use ticket counters, the ticketing hall itself will feature a number of common-use, internet-based kiosks to allow passengers to check in on a touch-screen system.

"These kiosks will provide customers the same service as though they were checking in at home," Hypnar said. This convenient e-ticketing system can also be accessed at the ground transportation center being built adjacent to the North Terminal. Passengers can check in both themselves and their baggage at this crosspoint that funnels commercial traffic with parking deck passengers. This conceptually dedicates the curbside at both arrivals and departures to exclusive private passenger vehicle use, thereby relieving congestion in front of the terminal.

Measuring in at a little less than a half-mile long, the terminal will feature moving walkways to assist people in their travel distance from the ticketing hall to the furthest gate they may travel to. En route, passengers may want to shop or dine within the facility's approximately 55,000-square-feet of concessions.

"We expect a standard cross-section of news and gift, food and beverage and some specialty stores distributed throughout the length of the concourses as opposed to having a centralized market," Hypnar said, noting public bidding will begin early next year. There will also be concessions in the bag claim area for those folks that would like to avail themselves there.

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