February 8, 2013
Construction of the new Air Capital Terminal 3 (ACT 3) at Wichita Mid-Continent Airport is on schedule, thanks, in part, to pleasant weather late last year. The new terminal is expected to open in the spring of 2015.
Since the beginning of major construction in early October 2012, construction crews have cleared the project site, relocated and extended utilities, mass excavated the site, began foundations, installed conduits and pipes beneath the building, prepared the aggregate base course beneath the floor slabs, and began tunnel construction. Approximately 40 percent of the new concrete foundations have been completed and 80 percent of the utilities have been altered. The tunnel, in addition to serving as an emergency storm shelter, will provide access to the new terminal from the Building Maintenance Division, which is housed in the basement of the current terminal and will remain there following opening of the new facilities.
Construction work anticipated in the next couple of months includes continued foundation work, work beneath floor slabs, finish preparing the bases to the floor slabs, and building the tunnel. The building’s structural steel framing is expected to begin late this month and continue into June. Two large 100-ton Crawler-type cranes will install the steel creating the skeleton of the new Terminal.
Three construction web cameras have been installed for the public to observe the new terminal site. The cameras are located on the existing terminal roof, the DoubleTree Hotel roof, and a camera pole adjacent to Parking Lot C. The cameras take pictures every 15 minutes and have a time-lapse function allowing the viewer a sight of the construction over time. The airport website www.flywichita.com also contains other interesting features about the project.
Coinciding with the construction of the new terminal building is the parking garage and rental car facilities project. The construction contract is slated to bid within the next two months and will be completed prior to the opening of the terminal. Mid-Continent’s ACT 3 Terminal will be the airline gateway to the State of Kansas, and as such is the first and last impression of Wichita for visitors to the entire region. The terminal project will not use any local tax dollars, but will be funded from airport concession revenue, lease revenue, and federal grants collected from aviation user fees. The parking garage also will not use any local tax dollars, but will be funded with airport revenue.
