Pittsburgh International Airport Installs 100 Tons of Steel in Hours for New $1.4B Terminal

Last week marked a hefty milestone for Pittsburgh International Airport’s new terminal program: the installation of two 50-ton steel girders to form a structural slab foundation using a 200-foot crane.

The procedure required an hours-long shutdown of the trains that run between the terminals in order to maintain maximum safety for staff, construction workers and passengers.

The steel embedded plate girders, about 80 feet long and weighing roughly 100,000 pounds each, formed the structural slab foundation upon which the new terminal will be built. A third similarly sized girder is scheduled to be placed over the train tunnel in April at a date to be determined. That process will also require an overnight closure of the trains.

Steel for the new terminal is being sourced from throughout the U.S. and fabricated at Sippel Steel in Ambridge, Pennsylvania, just a few miles from the airport. It is being delivered to the construction site in sequence as needed.

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Rob Bramblett, project executive with the terminal construction management joint venture of PJ Dick–Hunt, said safety and security is always the top priority and shutting down the trains during these critical crane lifts is one of many added safety precautions being taken throughout the airport modernization program.

A total of 25 embedded plate girders will sit on the caissons and auger cast piles that have been drilled and installed as part of deep foundations work that Mascaro began in November of 2021. Three of the girders span the train tunnels, requiring a complete closure.

Specialized laser and vibration monitoring equipment were also installed in the train tunnels to continuously monitor any movement or structural issues throughout construction over the next three years. The tunnels are also inspected on a weekly basis by a team of engineers.

Bramblett said construction involving a similar structural slab was conducted at Philadelphia International Airport.

“We do not want to impose any added building loads to the existing tunnels, so this structural slab diverts the loads away from the tunnels to the auger pilings and the earth underneath,” he said.

Additional steel for the new terminal is expected to begin rising later this spring, and the new terminal is scheduled to open in 2025.