Las Vegas Airports Take Flight

McCarran Expands While New Ivanpah Airport Lifts Off

By Tony Illia

McCarran Airport is preparing for Las Vegas' ever-growing influx of visitors by opening a new consolidated rental car facility, expanding two existing gates and adding a new terminal. Meanwhile, the $4-billion new airport planned for the Ivanpah Valley moves forward.

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McCarran International Airport, the nation's fifth busiest, is undertaking a five-year, $3.8-billion capital improvement program to meet the rapid growth of the Las Vegas Valley. San Francisco-based Bechtel Infrastructure Corp. is the program manager.

McCarran handled nearly 46.2 milllion passengers in 2006, and for every new hotel room added to the city's inventory, another 320 passengers come through McCarran, says Randall H. Walker, director of the Clark County Dept. of Aviation.

Currently there are 36,725 more hotel rooms planned through 2010, a 27.6% increase over last year's inventory, reports the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority. The 2,800-acre, four-runway airport could consequently soon reach its 53-million passenger capacity. McCarran trails only LAX as the nation's busiest origin and destination airport with more than 121,000 passengers daily, Walker says.

McCarran is undertaking a series of capacity expansions and facility upgrades to meet demand, while pursuing the construction of a new airport in the Ivanpah Valley, 40 miles southwest of Las Vegas.

Ivanpah Airport

The Ivanpah airport will be located on a dry lakebed east of Interstate-15, between Jean, Nev., and the California border. A $14.2 million environmental impact statement for the new 6,000-acre airport complex is being prepared by Watertown, Mass.-based Vanasse Hangen Brustlin. The initial $4 billion phase will consist of a 14-gate terminal with two parallel runways for concurrent takeoff and landings, with 2,000 acres allocated for flood control.

It is expected to be operational by 2017, servicing six million passengers in its first year. McCarran will eventually shift its focus to short-commuter flights, with Ivanpah assuming the long-distance and international routes.

"This will be the first new major airport in the country since Denver," says Jonathan Feinstein, VHB senior vice president, whose firm won the contract as a result of a national, three-stage competition. "In addition to the airport there will be 14,000 acres of land for commercial and industrial development."

The Southern Nevada Public Lands Act of 1998 created a 200-ft-wide utility corridor from Las Vegas to Ivanpah, helping fast-track easements over federal land for bringing water and electrical power to the site.

The final environmental report has to be submitted by 2010 for federal approval. If cleared for takeoff, design will take three years followed by four years of construction. The county has retained URS as their aviation consultant.

Construction of the Ivanpah facility will be financed from federal grants and revenue bonds, with debt being retired from passenger fees, concessions and airport revenue. Upon build-out, it will service up to a 35-million passengers annually.

Rent-A-Car Center

McCarran, meanwhile, is freeing up space at its existing facility by moving car rental operations offsite to a new 79.2-acre complex at Gilespie Street and Warm Springs Road. Check-in counters inside the terminal building will be converted into added baggage carousels.

The $123.3 million Rent-A-Car Center will consist of a three-level, 1.7 million-sq-ft garage capable of storing 6,000 cars. The cast-in-place concrete structure will have an 11-acre footprint. Denver-based PCL Construction is the general contractor.

The project also entails a two-story, 131,000-sq-ft customer service building, designed by Las Vegas-based SH Architecture. The steel-framed, crescent-shaped structure will house 10 rental car companies capable of conducting 10,000 transactions daily. The building will feature a concrete block and sandstone veneer, with glass and aluminum panels.

"We tried to make the orientation as direct and simple as possible for new visitors," says John Sawdon, principal of SH Architecture.

Other project components include three quick turnaround areas with fuel and service islands as well as two-story light maintenance facilities. There will be a total of 125 gas pumps with 150,000 gallons of fuel available in underground tanks that will need refilling every two days. It will be the largest gas station west of the Mississippi, claim project officials. >>

Car companies signed a 10-year lease to occupy space inside the new Rent-A-Car Center, which is scheduled to open this month. A $3-per-transaction service charge will help underwrite passenger shuttles. McCarran will run 60 buses in a 2.3-mi loop between the airport and back. It expects to receive about $20-million annually in car rental revenue.

Terminal 3

McCarran's consolidation of its car rental operations allows it to build a new 1.87 million-sq-ft third terminal building. The $1.8 billion, 14-gate Terminal 3, located north of the D-Gates, will be totally self-contained with its own security gates, baggage claim, retail concessions, parking and ticketing, says Elaine Sanchez, McCarran's public information manager.

The project, which will have six gates dedicated for international travelers, is scheduled to reach 100% design completion next month. Las Vegas-based PGAL is the architect. Terminal 3 will give McCarran 117 total gates -- its final build-out capacity. The project is tentatively scheduled to open by 2011.

Construction, however, requires a $55 million realignment of Russell Road, between Paradise Road and Eastern Avenue, to the north. McCarran had previously purchased 440 surrounding homes to make room for the realignment, which is expected to finish mid-year. Terminal 3 will connect to the D-Gates via a concrete reinforced underground tunnel for an Automated Transit System.

D Gates addition

The D Gates are undergoing a $109-million, 128,000-sq-ft expansion with St. Louis-based McCarthy Building Cos. as general contractor. The 9-gate northwest wing addition, designed by Henderson-based Tate Snyder Kimsey Architects, will consist of a two-story, steel-framed structure set atop spread footings. The 500-ft-long fan-shaped structure will feature a combination glass curtain wall facade with sunshade louvers, and aluminum and zinc metal paneling. It will also have exposed bowtie roof trusses, clerestory windows and 80-ft-tall central pyramid-shaped atrium that allows indirect sunlight to filter down.

The lower level will house mechanical, electrical, security, luggage and other back-of-house services, while the main level will have ticketing, passenger lounges and 10 retail spaces. The 36 month project will require 16,000 sq ft of glass and 1,600 tons of steel.

"There are some restrictive work hours during the holidays, but the job generally requires a lot of coordination between the subs, the owner, the construction manager and tenants," says Randy Highland, McCarthy's Nevada division president. "We are also working around take-off and landings, which entails some security restrictions."

The northwest wing is expected to finish by September 2008, employing up to 250 trades during the height of construction activity. It will give the satellite terminal 44 total gates upon completion.

C Gates security checkpoint

McCarran could reach capacity five years before the new Ivanpah Airport opens. As a result, officials are looking to upgrade existing operations where possible.

For example, the airport is spending $65.4 million to build a new pedestrian link between the C and B gates as well as a new security annex. Las Vegas-based Flagship Construction Co. LLC is the general contractor. The 64- ft-long, 35-ft-wide and 17-ft-high elevated skybridge is an enclosed steel-and-glass structure with moving walkways and retail areas. The two-level, 65,000-sq-ft security screening building has security and ticketing check points, offices, concession areas on the second level, with storage, mechanical and airline spaces underneath. Domingo Cambiero Corp., Las Vegas, is the architect.

"Bringing additional passengers through our airport takes more than just adding flights," says Walker. "We must have the terminal facilities in place to handle passengers' needs, and roadways to facilitate the safe and efficient movement of private and commercial vehicles."



Key Players

Construction Manager: Bechtel Infrastructure Corp.
Contractors: Flagship Construction Co.; McCarthy Building Cos.;
PCL Constructors
Architects: Tate Snyder Kimsey Architects; SH Architecture;
PGAL; Domingo Cambiero Corp.
Engineers: Vanasse Hangen Brustlin; URS