| Popis: |
Eero Saarinen's mobile lounge system was recognized as state of the art intra-airport transportation of airline passengers in 1960. A half century later, in order to maintain the cutting edge airport operations and to position Washington Dulles International Airport to expand to meet the needs of twenty-first century airline travel, the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority initiated a massive program to replace the mobile lounges with a fully automated people mover system. This paper presents a case study detailing some of the planning and engineering challenges encountered in the design and construction of an automated people mover system underneath an existing, high profile and fully functioning international airport. Both the first phase of the APM system that came online in January 2010, and planned extensions still to be built are discussed in relation to the airport-wide master plan. Two components of the current system are used to illustrate specific issues that were major drivers for this project: (1) Design and construction of the Main Terminal APM Station; and (2) Design and construction of the Tier 2 APM Station. The Main Terminal APM Station provides an example of a large scale, sub-grade structure built in close proximity to a functioning airline terminal. This work was further complicated by the need to respect the historic nature of the existing Dulles International Airport Main Terminal Building. The Tier 2 APM Station illustrates an opposite consideration, the construction of a facility primarily intended to service a mid-field concourse, which will be designed and built at a future date. |
