Mammoet makes night moves in Atlanta

Mammoet working at Atlanta airport in the USA on the recently completed Phase 2 of the project. Photo: Mammoet

How can a major civilian airport upgrade project be carried out quickly and efficiently without shutting down operations? Mammoet found the answer for a project to widen corridors at Atlanta airport in the USA.

The Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport in Atlanta, USA, is claimed to be the world’s busiest. It accommodates nearly 300,000 people a day. About 80 per cent of the US population is within a 2-hour flight of the airport.

Concourse D, built in 1980, had narrow corridors around 5 metres wide and needed a major upgrade to accommodate increasing numbers of people and the daily demands of travel. This hub was too important for any part of it to be out of action while the airport was open.

From an early stage in the process international heavy lift and transport specialist Mammoet worked with the construction contractor, joint-venture company Holder-Moody-Bryson-Sovereign. HMBS-JV comprises Holder Construction, CD Moody Construction Company, Bryson Constructors and Sovereign Construction & Development. It specialises in airport projects.

Coming in to land at Atlanta airport: Mammoet has worked at many airports around the world. Photo: Mammoet

Early involvement in projects is a key element in Mammoet’s strategy to provide the best possible solutions for transport and lifting operations. It allows the maximum time to mitigate risks and to do things in the most efficient way with minimal constraint. It gives time to get necessary permits in place and allows maximum opportunity to engage with agencies as required. Outcomes achieved with early involvement often save time and money for the client.

The solution in Atlanta had to have minimal impact on daily operations. It was achieved by using prefabricated modules installed overnight using self propelled modular transporter (SPMT).

Mammoet SPMT working on Phase 1 of the Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport expansion porject in Atlanta, USA. Photo: Mammoet

Getting to work

The first modules were moved at the back end of 2024 with more being transported into place earlier this year. At the time of writing the project had reached the halfway mark with ten modules moved and nine more to go.

The modules were transported one at a time, on the same day each week, in the early hours of the morning, between 01.00 and 04.00 hours. Later on, using experience gained from the first phase of the project, efficiency was increased by transporting two modules per week during phase two.

Loading the modules onto the SPMT was followed by transporting them in a one mile (1.62 km) journey to the site. To give an idea of the scale of the moves the heaviest module was 694.45 tonnes and was transported on 92 axle-lines of SPMT.

At their destination the modules were positioned using 18 units of Mammoet climbing jacks, each with a lifting capacity of 300 tonnes. They were used by first lifting the load and then adding timber cribbing underneath before lowering, retracting the jacks and then repeating the process as necessary.

Where it differed from the usual lifting operation, however, was that when the load arrived on the SPMT it was higher than it needed to be – and by more than the suspension stroke of the SPMT – so the load had to be jacked down. This meant each time it was jacked up timber cribbing was removed rather than added, thereby lowering it with each operating stroke of the jacks.

The completed overhaul will add more than 87 metres to the length of the concourse. In addition to giving the necessary extra room for passengers and shops, it will also accommodate larger aircraft, carrying more people.

Doing the initial construction offsite to build modules and then bringing them in at the last minute when required allows the airport operations to continue smoothly for as long as possible.

Mammoet has experience working on other airport projects around the world. These include installing a massive bridge in Hong Kong, expanding a terminal at Portland in Oregon, USA, and moving a bridge at Manchester in the UK.

One of the five giant module moves by Mammoet in Phase 2 of the Concourse D upgrade project at Atlanta Airport. Photo: Mammoet