"Anchorage airport delay: Concourse behind schedule"

Monday, January 22, 2001

Airport delay
Concourse behind schedule
By Tony Hopfinger
Anchorage (AK) Daily News


The new $81 million Concourse C at Anchorage's international airport is
running up to $10 million over budget as rising construction costs and
problems with the design delay its opening by at least a year.

And major construction hasn't even begun.

The state Department of Transportation says problems with Concourse C's
structural design have now generated at least $5 million to $10 million in
overruns, a couple million dollars more than original estimates.

Those costs stem from the Anchorage Building Department's refusing to issue
permits to finish the concourse's foundation and erect the steel shell. As
currently designed, the city and an Outside consultant claim, the
457,000-square-foot concourse would be vulnerable to earthquakes.

And adding 90,000 square feet to the concourse's original layout, coupled
with rising construction costs, has caused the price to jump from $65.3
million in 1999 to $81 million today, not including the looming costs from
the design problems.

Yet while space is being added for concessions, airlines and the public,
transportation officials say they're looking at whether to scrap other parts
of Concourse C to offset the escalating price.

That could mean not initially building a 300-foot-long moving walkway to
guide passengers and their bags through the building. A tour-group baggage
facility also might be cut for the time being. Same with one of nine jet
gates, said Dave Eberle, head of the Transportation Department's central
region, which includes Anchorage.

Two ironies taint the new concourse.

First, the state Transportation Department razed the old Concourse C a year
ago in part because the structure was vulnerable to earthquakes -- the same
reason the city won't permit the new building.

Second, state attempts to put the project on a fast track for construction
contributed to the delays being experienced now. The project originally was
slated to be completed by April 2002. Now it won't be done before spring
2003.

Concourse C is the jewel of a $230 million airport makeover. The elaborate
building, with split levels, a huge atrium and moving walkway, will about
double the size of the domestic terminal. The concourse will extend out of
the north end of the main terminal.

But for almost a year, Concourse C has been plagued with oversights and
mistakes made in its structural design, essentially the blueprint for the
building's steel frame and foundation.

Those problems have spawned a world of tension among people involved in the
project as the Transportation Department prepares to file an insurance claim
to be reimbursed for the $5 million to $10 million in overruns.

Memos between the key players hint at the frustration over the city's
refusal to issue construction permits.

In a letter last October, state project director Donn Ketner reminded the
city, "Every day of delay to the final completion of the new Concourse C
means a loss in airport revenue of approximately $30,000."

Ron Wilde, the city engineer charged with reviewing the structural design of
Concourse C, said the delays stem from major oversights made by
Seattle-based Coffman Engineers, the firm hired by the state to structurally
design the building.

"We've found some significant mistakes," he said.

Coffman's president, David Coffman, did not return phone calls for this
story.

Since Coffman first sought building permits last February, the city has
required the firm to revise the design five times to meet seismic codes.

Some work has been allowed, but the city says it could be a couple of months
more before all structural permits are issued. The foundation permit is the
closest to being completed, the city said.

Before applying for permits, the Transportation Department took out a $10
million insurance policy to cover potential mistakes and delays in the
structural design. But it won't know for months, perhaps more than a year,
whether it will be reimbursed, Eberle said.

The state's insurance broker, Willis Corroon Corp. in Seattle, declined to
comment.

Another source of revenue that could offset rising construction costs and
expanding Concourse C's layout is to use up to $18 million of investment
earnings on bond proceeds. The Transportation Department sold $204 million
in bonds two years ago to fund the majority of the airport redevelopment and
has invested some of the money until it needs the cash.

The source of funding to pay for the much more expensive concourse will be
dealt with later.

At the moment, engineers are hunkered down trying to get the project back on
track amid an undercurrent of accusations.

The city's exhaustive permitting process has Coffman accusing Wilde of being
overly critical in his review.

Coffman has told the state that Wilde and the building department might be
partly to blame for project delays, Eberle said.

Eberle said the Transportation Department had concerns with Wilde too.

"We wanted to head off the potential of (Wilde's) being overly nitpicky, or
at least that perception," Eberle said.

But an Outside engineering firm hired last fall to help Wilde review
Coffman's design has backed the city engineer, even finding oversights he
missed, said Ron Watts, Anchorage's chief building official.

"Our job is to make sure we have a safe and completely designed building,
and we are going to do that," Watts said.

Coffman might be responsible for the design problems, but the Transportation
Department has taken its own risks by enforcing an aggressive construction
schedule.

One of the biggest gambles occurred when the agency ordered more than $4
million in steel without having its permits in hand -- risky because if the
design changes during the permitting process, the finished steel might have
to be tweaked.

"Is it normal? No it's not normal," Eberle said of ordering steel before
having the permits. "But we felt the risk of waiting was greater."

Steel takes months to fabricate. If the state put off the order, it would
have lost its spot in the production schedule and delayed construction,
Eberle said.

Yet today the steel sits in Anchorage awaiting construction.

Some of it is at the airport. The rest is stored at the Port of Anchorage at
a cost of almost $26,000 a month, the port said.

It's a lot of money to spend to store steel. But Eberle isn't ready to point
fingers. He just wants to start building.

"From my perspective, I want to resolve the problems before we sort out who
did what," he said.

 What do you think of this story? Post your opinion in the CAA Discussion Forum
http://www.californiaaviation.org/cgi-bin/dcforum/dcboard.cgi?conf=DCConfID8

*****************************************