"Outlook for repairing hurricane damage at Orlando, Fla., airport improves"

Friday, August 20, 2004

Outlook for repairing hurricane damage at Orlando, Fla., airport improves
The Orlando (FL) Sentinel


Travelers strolled along concourses and paused to peek into shop windows
along the retail arcades of Orlando International Airport on Thursday, just
as they did before Hurricane Charley whipped through Central Florida.

It was much the same in the airport's four satellite terminals, where
passengers snoozed in padded chairs as they waited for flights. Only the hum
of large fans and the odor of recently soaked carpet suggested that boarding
areas were drenched when Charley ripped loose roofing on Friday night.

Airport Executive Director Bill Jennings said repairs should take less time
than the year he initially forecast. And he said once carpets and ceiling
tiles are replaced in the boarding areas, most travelers won't be aware that
anything is awry at all.

"This place is really ready to go," Jennings said, surveying the terminals'
roofs from the top of the airport parking garage. "Things looked worse a few
days ago, but it's different now."

The terminal buildings were built in phases during the past 23 years.

Though building codes periodically undergo revisions, airport construction
experts says engineers commonly test designs for their ability to withstand
high winds in hurricane-prone areas.

"When you are building different kinds of structures that depart from the
rectangular norm, you would typically use a wind tunnel to conduct tests" on
a model, said Peter Wright, a principal with Parsons Brinckerhoff, an expert
on airport design and construction. He said he was unfamiliar with the
design of Orlando's airport.

Though the hurricane's eye passed close to the airport and a number of
hangars on the west side of the field were damaged, the terminals withstood
the buffeting winds with few problems.

Roofers have been working since the weekend, replacing the protective
coverings that seal the satellite terminals from rain. Jennings said that
most of the damage had been patched by Thursday.

For an airport that sustained wind gusts of more than 105 miles an hour
during the peak of the storm, signs of damage were hard to see. Two large
sections of glass at the main terminal's east end shattered and are now
covered with concrete. Another section in one of the satellite terminals
also broke.

By Thursday, just eight of the airport's 130 gates were still out of
commission because of damaged jetways. Passengers were boarding airplanes
with only the standard delays -- a far different situation than the morning
after Charley, when thousands of passengers jammed the terminal, departure
and arrival boards malfunctioned, and flights were canceled for most of the
day.

Thunderstorms that followed the hurricane caused additional water damage
before workers could cover the satellite terminals' roofs with temporary
plastic.

Jennings said repair teams arrived before dawn Saturday, clearing roofing
and debris scattered on the tarmac and testing electronics systems for
damage. By 3 p.m., airplanes were once again arriving and flight schedules
began falling back in place.

Jennings said a thorough assessment of damage has begun. He said it is still
too early to estimate the repair bill.


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