Salt Lake City | Transit and Airport Developments

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Originally Posted by Sight-Seer

Some recent photos:

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Despite Overcrowding and construction Salt Lake City International Airport soars to number 2 in quality ranking.

By Lee Davidson, The Salt Lake Tribune - https://www.sltrib.com/news/politics...-overcrowding/

Salt Lake City International Airport was designed for 10 million passengers a year, but it now handles nearly 27 million. The result? Parking lots fill. Waiting areas often have more passengers than seats. It has few lounges. Concessions are crowded. But the airport still just flew to a No. 2 best overall ranking among America’s 30 busiest airports — and was just barely edged out of the top spot. And the ranking comes amid a massive ongoing $3.6 billion project to rebuild the airport. “It’s amazing,” said Bill Wyatt, airport director for the past year. “As a relative newcomer, I’m amazed at how well this place operates.”The Points Guy, a travel website, released its annual Best Airports report Thursday, and it ranked Salt Lake City as No. 2 behind only Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport. The No. 3 ranking went to Portland, Ore., where Wyatt was director before taking the Salt Lake City job.The bottom rankings in the new report all went to three airports serving New York City: John F. Kennedy International at the bottom, followed by LaGuardia and Newark Liberty International. The rankings are based on such things as on-time flight statistics, amenities, how accessible it is to the city, the cost of an Uber or Lyft to get there, the number of restaurants versus the number of passengers, and more...

...Where could it do better? “Salt Lake could use a few more restaurants for the number of passengers it sees, and it has negligible lounge presence,” Kheel said. “It also needs to catch up to most other major U.S. airports in implementing environmentally friendly initiatives.”
Wyatt said the airport is already well on the way to doing all of that and more as it is building a new terminal, concourses and a parking garage to replace existing facilities — and is doing that on site without disrupting operations. The first phase of the new airport is scheduled to open in fall 2020. “It is going to be a genuine state-of-the-art facility — and will be operated by the same people who are already getting us this No. 2 award. So maybe No. 1 is on the horizon,” Wyatt said.

Leah Hogsten | The Salt Lake Tribune The new Salt Lake City International Airport expansion project, Monday, Oct. 22, 2018. The first phase construction of the $3.6 billion project is due to open in 700 days. Nearing completion is the new concourse for aircraft gates, an enclosed terminal, the steel skeleton of a new "gateway" building, a five-story parking garage and elevated roadways.

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Get a glimpse into what the new Salt Lake City International Airport will look like

By Katie McKellar @KatieMcKellar1
Published: October 22, 2018 6:49 pm - Additional Photos and full artical at https://www.deseretnews.com/article/...kes-shape.html

SALT LAKE CITY — As the $3.6 billion redesign of the Salt Lake City International Airport soars along toward the 2020 opening of its first phase, some finishing details have already begun emerging.

There are copper colored exterior panels, meant to mimic Utah's characteristic red rock. Reddish-brown, metallic tiles also line some interior walls. Some bathrooms have also nearly been completed.

Those details include the first glimpses of how the new airport will look when travelers will first be able to step foot inside the south concourse next year, the first of two concourses expected to be finished by the end of 2020.

Airport officials on Monday gave media another behind-the-scenes tour of the massive construction site, providing a progress update on the state's largest public project to date...


... among all the new, there was one old feature that has been waiting more than a decade to be revealed. The Media
got the first glimpse of a tunnel that was first planned in the late 1990s and completed 14 years ago, in 2004, in anticipation of the massive airport re-design.

A tunnel in what will be Concourse A at the new Salt Lake City International Airport is pictured on Monday, Oct. 22, 2018. The tunnel will house a future tram for access to a third terminal. Photo By Steve Griffin, Deseret News

..."The project really couldn't be built without this tunnel being in place," Mike Williams, airport redevelopment program director, said as he led Monday's tour. "It would be much more difficult to phase our way through this project."

The tunnel, which stretches beneath the taxiway, will also have moving walkways to help travelers quickly connect with the north concourse — also expected to be completed by the end of 2020.

Later on, another more central tunnel will connect the two parallel concourses, planned for phase 2 of the project, Williams said...So far, with about 700 days to go until the first phase's 2020 opening, the re-design has been tracking on schedule and on budget, according to Williams.

"The project is going really well," he said...

Tunnel, Video Link: https://youtu.be/UnN_x9t7SFE


The current short-term parking structure at the Salt Lake City International Airport is reflected in what will be Concourse A's large glass wall on Monday, Oct. 22, 2018. Photo By Steve Griffin, Deseret News


Cranes are pictured outside what will be the new Salt Lake City International Airport's Concourse A on Monday, Oct. 22, 2018. Photo By Steve Griffin, Deseret News


Mike Williams, director of the Salt Lake City International Airport terminal redevelopment program, holds up a rope barrier for members of the media during a tour of the new airport on Monday, Oct. 22, 2018. Photo By Steve Griffin, Deseret News


An entrance to a men's restroom in what will be Concourse A at the new Salt Lake City International Airport is pictured on Monday, Oct. 22, 2018. Some of the design elements in the concourse are nearing completion. Photo By Steve Griffin, Deseret News


The baggage system tunnel in what will be the Salt Lake City International Airport's new Concourse A is pictured during a tour of the new airport on Monday, Oct. 22, 2018. Photo By Steve Griffin, Deseret News


An elevated roadway under construction at the Salt Lake City International Airport is pictured from inside the current short-term parking structure on Monday, Oct. 22, 2018. Photo By Steve Griffin, Deseret News

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“They are massive,” Wegner said about the beams. “They are roughly 225,000 pounds — a quarter-million pounds. They are just over 8 feet deep.”

He adds, “Up until probably the last five to 10 years, the technology did not exist to stretch them out to what we can do now.”

Originally Posted by JMK

Bridge beams made in West Valley City—more than 200 feet long—will help support I-15 widening in Lehi


Most newer concrete beams that hold up Utah highway bridges are around 145 feet long. But the Utah Department of Transportation is about to place six that are 40 percent longer — 203 feet — to help widen Interstate 15 in Lehi.

They are longer than the iconic Cinderella’s castle in Walt Disney World (189 feet) is high, or the leaning tower of Pisa (185 feet).

They also will be the third-longest single-component beams in the United States, slightly shorter than two in Orlando, Fla., and Seattle, said Lee Wegner, with Forterra Structural Precast, the West Valley City company that is making them.

They may also create a bit of a spectacle along Utah highways over the next few days. They are being shipped one at a time on long, wide trailers that take up two lanes of traffic — with Highway Patrol and pilot car escorts — and will mostly travel on freeways.

And crews will have “two massive cranes out there dropping pretty massive beams into place” in Lehi over a four-day process beginning probably on Thursday, said UDOT spokesman John Gleason.

The beams are being installed where I-15 crosses over some rail tracks and trails between the Lehi Main Street and 2100 North exits, and will help widen the freeway as part of the Technology Corridor project. Installation is not expected to interfere with or slow I-15 traffic, which is detoured around the work location.

“They are massive,” Wegner said about the beams. “They are roughly 225,000 pounds — a quarter-million pounds. They are just over 8 feet deep.”

He adds, “Up until probably the last five to 10 years, the technology did not exist to stretch them out to what we can do now.”

The pre-stressed concrete beams contain “68 half-inch-diameter steel cables running down the middle of them. Each one of those cables is pulled to about 44,000 pounds of stress,” Wegner said.

“With 68 in there, there is roughly 3 million pounds of force within the beam,” he said. “One of my engineers who used to work for Thiokol tells me that is enough to get the space shuttle into orbit.”

Once the steel cables are stretched and stressed, he said, “The concrete is poured around them and is allowed to cure. Once it is cured to a specified strength, the cables are cut, and that force is then introduced into the concrete. So they have 3 million pounds of stored force just sitting there.”

Wegner said, “That allows you to turn a piece of concrete that is inherently weak in tension into something that is able to counteract tension” and support heavy traffic loads.

He added, “We use a super-high-strength concrete,” which can cure to needed strength overnight.

UDOT is using the upcoming transport and placement of the beams to urge drivers to slow down through I-15 construction in Utah County. The speed limit has been lowered to 60 mph there, but Gleason said far too many drivers are going faster.

“We still seeing a lot of people who are traveling too fast,” Gleason said. “The speed limit is there to protect all of us. The lanes are narrowed. They are winding. Sixty mph is a safe speed.”

https://www.sltrib.com/news/politics...s2hDX8qsCw2g3M

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Originally Posted by orlando

posting this on here from the transit thread. This is the new bus maintenance building between i-15 and the train tracks. Looks cool!

http://rnldesign.com/wordpress/wp-co.../UTA_grid3.jpg


http://rnldesign.com/wordpress/wp-co.../UTA_grid3.jpg

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[delts145]

Originally Posted by Hatman

Updates of the S-Line double-track. The catenary system is nearly ready to start stringing the new wires over the second track. Here is the west end terminal pole, with the counterweights and anchor cable all ready:



The second platform at the 300 East 'stop'. It's weird that they've already installed the card reader and the trash can, even though this platform is many months away from entering service. It still needs the messsage board, signs, light pole, and seating installed, but at least we've got our trash can ready!

I already saw one woman waiting on that platform; I hope the operator waited for her to get to the other side...


Going farther up the line (eastward) it is clear that all the poles are in place and all the brackets have been installed on existing poles. All that is left is to place the pulleys onto the arms so that the line-stringing can begin!

Originally Posted by Hatman

I think we could see a lot less 'doddling' for schedule reasons if UTA could replicate two features from the UVX route to other bus lines.

1) More frequent service. It isn't so terrible to be off from your schedule if there are other buses running six minutes before and after you.
2) Variable headways depending on the time of day. While it looks good on a spreadsheet to have the buses scheduled to arrive and depart at the same time all day long, this doesn't take into account traffic considerations that will cause the buses to be late when there is lots of traffic or cause them to 'doddle' when traffic is lighter than anticipated. The UVX's schedule changes based on what time of the day it is and how much traffic the buses are expected to meet. This could easily be done with other high-frequency routes.



In other news, over the last two weekends the Overhead Catenary System was installed on the S-Line's extended siding. Over the first weekend the catenary wire and the 'hanger' wires that drop down and hold the copper wire level were installed:




Over the next weekend closure the copper wire and the springs to keep it tightly away from the catenary wire were installed:




All major construction on this project is now complete, and I think my photo updates will be done for a while. This project is projected to open near the beginning of April, when the S-Line will switch to a 15-minute frequency to match TRAX. I still wish this project had been bigger, since adding a second track in small bit-sized pieces is overall the most expensive and slowest way of adding a second track. It really shouldn't have been so hard to double-track the entire two-mile corridor since the ROW is already there and the OCS poles are already in place to accomodate the second track. What is the S-Line going to do when TRAX is finally funded enough to run at 12 or 10 minute frequencies? UTA would need to run all three of its white-painted S70's to get the S-Line frequency up that high, but they can't unless the entire 2 miles have a second track.

But whatever, I still like taking pictures of construction projects, and this has kept me busy for nearly a year. Overall I'm just glad that something is getting built at all, and that progress is still being made on our rail system.

Pics By Hatman

[delts145]

Originally Posted by Hatman

I got to try out the UVX line over Christmas, now that they are using their center-running lanes:


Overall the trip was much faster and smoother than the last time I rode it (without bus lanes). So much less swerving back and forth - I didn't get motion sick at all!

But holy cow, those bus drivers drive like they were on a race track! The ride was smooth but you had to hold onto your seat - even if you were sitting down - because they just fly around those corners! It was pretty exciting, and it makes the bus feel even faster than it really is.

Only one thing slowed us down on our trip, and that was a car thinking that the bus lane was an extra left turn lane. The first light cycle there was no car next to us so the left turn arrow didn't activate - only the bus signal, which the car driver didn't understand. The next time the left turn arrow activated but only after the bus signal had gone through its phase, meaning we had to wait for a third cycle before we could turn left onto University Avenue. The bus driver was really PO'd, honking and lurching and flashing his lights... I hope there will be good enforcement of penalties for people who get in the wrong lanes, since the bus is recording them and will certainly have got a picture of their license plate number.

While I was riding I noticed technicians messing with wiring in the cabinets at the station platforms. They seemed to be running a test on the information screens:



It looks like the screen will be displaying the real-time positions of the approaching buses. Blue icons mean southbound and green icons mean northbound (presumably for the two Universities). And I say 'will be' because on the day I went this was the only screen working, it didn't update, the Date was wrong (it was December 26th) and it was displaying the wrong station name (I was at the BYU South Campus Station, like the map shows), but the idea is there.

Pics By Hatman

[N830MH]

https://www.heraldextra.com/news/loc...fdfa8571a.html

Provo City Airport director Steve Gleason made a swift and significant request of the Provo Municipal Council Tuesday during his budget presentation — a new terminal.

Gleason said Allegiant Airlines, who is the only commercial airline flying in and out of Provo, is desirous to add new destinations, as well as multiple flights to the same destinations, but can’t do it with a 6,000 square foot terminal.

A new terminal should eventually be about 70,000 square feet and have 10 gates, thus allowing for even more airlines to use Provo as a destination, according to Gleason. This would be the 20-year plan. The design would also allow for further expansion.

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February 2019 Updates - Salt Lake City International Airport

Jasen Lee for the Deseret News - https://www.deseretnews.com/article/...io-bruges.html

SALT LAKE CITY — Travelers and visitors to the revamped Salt Lake City International Airport will find a host of new and familiar dining options when the first phase of the project officially opens late next year.

Officials Wednesday announced the roster of food and beverage purveyors that will fill the spaces of the new concourses at the overhauled airport...Scheduled for completion in fall 2020, phase one of the
$3.6 billion airport redevelopment will include a central terminal, the west end of two concourses and a parking garage. The second phase is scheduled to be finished in late 2024...

...John Buckner, director of administration and commercial services for the Department of Airports, said the new concourse will be set up for traveler convenience with stores, restaurants and amenities no more than a few feet away at any point in the main areas of the building..."They are in places that you would say, 'I feel comfortable in running and getting a sandwich or a soda or a coffee or a newspaper without fear of missing (the) plane or missing (the) boarding call,'" he explained. "The architecture is designed to (allow) for our need to be close to the gate."

"It will be much more convenient and it'll be much more user-friendly, in terms of not just the concessions but also the amenities — washrooms and information that (travelers) depend on," he added. The concourses are designed so that most concessions and services will be within 150 feet in any direction, he said.

In December, Buckner noted the airport would implement "street pricing" in restaurants and shops located in the new facilities, meaning passengers will pay the same prices charged at locations outside of the airport as they will on-site. While he acknowledged that it costs more to operate a business at the airport, he also said having a potential consumer base of over 25 million travelers and growing annually gives those concessionaires a large population from which to make money each year if they operate effectively...

..."(Concessions) really help pay for the operation of the airport," he said. "The concessions program helps us keep the cost of airline operation here very low."

He said Salt Lake City International Airport is one of the lowest cost airports in the United States for air carriers to operate. Having first-class concessions will help maintain that ranking and give travelers high-level options for dining that will satisfy their needs and desires.

"Our passengers are hungry for a variety of food and beverage options," Wyatt said. "Today’s traveler expects airports to provide a quality selection of restaurants with affordable pricing. Whether its casual fare or fine dining they will find it at the new SLC airport."

Lauren Boyack, left, Doug Hofeling and Maxwell Christen, of Squatters and Wasatch Brew Pubs, look at photographs of the food and beverage component
for the first phase of the $3.6 billion remodel of the Salt Lake City International Airport on Wednesday, Feb. 20, 2019. (Photo by Lauren Seitz for the Deseret News)


The announced restaurant lineup for the new terminal: PHASE I


Concourse A/Terminal Plaza
-Beans & Brews
-Bruges Belgian Bistro
-Cafe Rio
-California Pizza Kitchen
-Fillings & Emulsions
-Granatos
-Market Street Grill
-Panda Express
-Pago
-Panera Bread
-Pizzeria Limone
-Pulp Lifestyle Kitchen
-Shake Shack
-SLC Life Market/Creminelli Fine Meats
-Squatters Pub
-Starbucks (2)
-White Horse Spirits & Kitchen

Concourse B
-Pick Up Stix
-Silver Diner -Smashburger
-Uinta Brewing Company -Wasatch Pub

Pre-Security
-Blue Lemon -Starbucks (Level One)



People tour a plaza in one of the concourses being built at the Salt Lake City International Airport on Wednesday, Feb. 20, 2019.(Photo by Lauren Seitz for the Deseret News)


People tour a plaza in one of the concourses being built at the Salt Lake City International Airport on Wednesday, Feb. 20, 2019.(Photo by Lauren Seitz for the Deseret News)


People tour a plaza in one of the concourses being built at the Salt Lake City International Airport on Wednesday, Feb. 20, 2019.(Photo by Lauren Seitz for the Deseret News)


John Buckner, director of administration and commercial services for the Department of Airports, right, speaks to a co-worker outside one of the new concourses at the Salt Lake City International Airport on Wednesday, Feb. 20, 2019.
(Photo by Lauren Seitz for the Deseret News)

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[N830MH]

What company? Is that HMS Host or SSP America?

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Southern Metro - Provo Municipal Airport plans to expand as population grows

Lauren Bennett - The Deseret News - https://www.deseretnews.com/article/...ion-grows.html

The Provo Municipal Airport is looking to expand from a one-gate, one-terminal, one-airline operation into a 10-gate, two-terminal, multi-airline operation over the next several years.

Phase one of the project, which would build a four-gate terminal, baggage claim and TSA stations, is estimated to cost a little more than $41 million. The structure would be built to expand to 10 gates in the future but would operate with four gates until then.

"We're always excited to be able to provide a more convenient option to people that live in Utah County or south of Salt Lake," said Steve Gleason, airport manager. Additional gates will help the regional airport bring in more airlines because the airlines tend to want the same time slots each day, something the facility can't offer now with its current operation, according to Gleason. Allegiant Air is currently the only airline that flies in and out of Provo...

...The Provo City Council unanimously approved a resolution Wednesday to dedicate about $19 million to the project. Earlier this month, Mayor Michelle Kaufusi joined State House Majority Leader Francis Gibson, R-Mapleton, at the Legislature to request $9 million from the Infrastructure and General Government Appropriations Subcommittee. The city also requested an additional $4.3 million from Utah County and is expected to receive roughly $8 million from the Federal Aviation Administration to build the terminal tarmac, if the other funds are secured. Paxman said the expansion will benefit the entire county and help accommodate its rapid growth. "It's not only in Provo's interest," he said. "I think all citizens get a benefit from this."...

...“Utah County is the quickest growing county in the state," he told the committee on Feb. 12. Kaufusi told the committee it's time to “take it up a notch with our airport." She added that other city mayors in the county were supportive, as well as county commissioners and big businesses in the area. "The community seems to be very supportive, there's a lot of interest in this," Paxman agreed. "This won't add any inconvenience for anyone who chooses not to fly out of it. We can't see who really is harmed by this." The expansion would also provide a boost to the economy, Paxman said. "This will definitely open up new jobs in the area," he said. Not only would new airport employees be needed, but additional staffing for TSA and the airlines would bring in new jobs as well, Paxman pointed out. He also said private business, like car rental companies for example, might bring in more jobs as well. The current terminal building, which is a shared space with TAC Air in a public-private partnership, is only about 6,500 square feet and on average sees one to two flights daily, Gleason said. A new four-gate terminal would be at least triple the size and will see an increase in daily flights by at least 50 percent, he said. He also noted the growth will hopefully lead to an increase in destinations offered and an increase in flights. Gleason said there is no competition between Provo Airport and Salt Lake City International Airport, and there never will be. "Salt Lake would still be the main airport for Utah and always will be," he said. "We're just providing a convenient option for people in Utah Valley and hopefully taking some cars off the road." Providing the area with alternative transportation methods is crucial, Gleason added. "I think it's a necessary step for Utah Valley just as I-15 becomes more and more crowded," he said...

Passengers wait at the only gate at the Provo Airport for their flight to Mesa, Ariz., on Thursday, Feb. 21, 2019. Steve Griffin for the Deseret News

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Southern Metro

Quote: New Provo Developments - Aaron Sakbelund - https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?f...type=3&theater

Construction on Bulldog Blvd. of dedicated barrier protected bike lanes begins on Monday and will be completed within 6 months.

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Provo Municipal Airport Now Fully Funded

By Lauren Bennett - The Deseret News - https://www.deseretnews.com/article/...expansion.html

PROVO — With funding from the Utah Legislature approved late Thursday, Provo Municipal Airport's new terminal project is now fully funded.

Building the four-gate terminal is estimated to cost about $41 million, and now that all funds are secured, the city could break ground this fall and cut the ribbon as early as 2020.

Provo Mayor Michelle Kaufusi said she was "beyond excited" about the Legislature's approval.

“This landmark decision stands to impact our region in a positive way for decades to come," she said in a news release...

...Paxman noted the benefits aren't just for Utah County.

"This would have a statewide impact — it would help keep cars off of I-15 around Point of the Mountain, it would boost tourism to the state and boost the economy," he said.

He also said the city will accelerate construction in any way it can within budget restraints.

"As airlines have been showing an increase of interest, we really sense that this is the type of project you don't want to drag out over three years, you want to get moving," he noted.

The amount of governmental support the project received is relatively rare, Paxman said.

"It's not often you see a city, a county, a state and the federal government all contributing toward one project in this kind of a way," he said.

A plane stands stationary Wednesday, March 21, 2018, at the Provo Airport. Isaac Hale, Daily Herald

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Downtown Update - UTA breaks ground on new clean fuel center

Isaac Riddle Reports - Full Article @ https://www.buildingsaltlake.com/uta...n-fuel-center/

After nearly a decade of planning, on Monday, October 22 Utah Transit Agency (UTA) officials officially broke ground on the Depot District Clean Fuels Technology Center. The new center will be directly west of the Intermodal Hub and will be home to over 150 new clean air fuel and electric buses by 2021.

The Technology Center will replace the agency’s current garage at the northwest corner of the 200 South and 600 West intersection. The new center will occupy a 100-year-old former rail facility that sits just south of UTA administrative building.

According to UTA officials, the agency already utilizes a limited number of alternative fuel and electric buses but the current facilities lack the fueling and maintenance capacity to accommodate an expanded fleet. The center will be LEED certified and will use solar power and other green technologies to power the facility and charge the electric buses.

The new center not only helps the transit agency increase its fleet of alternative fuel and electric vehicles but by transferring the maintenance operations and fleet storage to the new center, over 7 acres of desirable real estate will be available for development when the current 45-year-old garage closes.

UTA officials envision a large transit-oriented development at the site of the current garage. The garage parcels are not only in the heart of the state’s most transit-rich neighborhood but a neighborhood that is experiencing an influx of new development.

There are at least three residential projects planned within a block of UTA’s current garage including the second phase of the Alta Gateway Station, the Centro Civico Senior Housing development and the West Gateway Commons. The project is also adjacent to the Station Center project area, that could bring hundreds of new units and commercial space to the area...

Rendering of the UTA's proposed Clean Fuels Technology Center. Image courtesy UTA.


Rendering of the UTA’s proposed Clean Fuels Technology Center. Image courtesy UTA.

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Salt Lake City's airport expansion hits 'extraordinary milestone' as crews top off north concourse


By Katie McKellar for the Deseret News - https://www.deseretnews.com/article/...concourse.html

SALT LAKE CITY — The massive, yearslong expansion of Salt Lake City International Airport has reached another big milestone: the placement of the north concourse's final steel beam.

Raised 56 feet in the air, the beam — covered in signatures of construction workers and city officials, draped with an American flag and topped with a small pine tree in honor of the Scandinavian tradition — highlighted the project's topping-off ceremony Tuesday.

The ceremony marked T-minus "545 days and 11 hours and so many minutes" until the opening of the airport expansion's first phase, slated for Sept. 15, 2020, said Bill Wyatt, executive director of the Salt Lake City Department of Airports...

...While the enormous construction site was "just a mud pit" when it began, Wyatt credited workers with playing a part to build an airport that will put Utah's capital on the global map.

"This project is going to have an economic impact and a cultural impact on the future of this community in ways few can understand, and it's because of your efforts," he told a crowd of construction workers who attended the ceremony.

Wyatt said Tuesday morning he walked through the underground tunnel now connecting the south concourse with the future north concourse, which only recently saw daylight after it's been "entombed" for over a decade, "waiting for this project to happen," he said...

Workers watch as the final beam is placed on the north concourse at the Salt Lake City International Airport during a topping-off ceremony on Tuesday, March 19, 2019. The airport is currently undergoing a $3.6 billion airport expansion.
Picture by Scott G Winterton, Deseret News

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[delts145]

Why the future of Caltrain is being built in Salt Lake City

Stadler of Switzerland's U.S.A. Campus, Salt Lake City at the (new inland port) - Phase I of Stadler's Manufacturing Construction Complete

https://bloximages.newyork1.vip.town...7852.image.png

Under Construction

http://www.sandersarch.com/images/co...crc=4181704606

Originally Posted by Hatman

https://www.mercurynews.com/2019/02/...h-stadler/amp/

Quote:

Once it’s complete, proponents say, the difference between the new electric trains and the current diesel ones will be like Teslas versus gas guzzlers: nimbler, smoother and far more energy efficient.

Quote:
The electrification project is aimed at getting more people to ride the rail. The new trains will still run at 79 mph, the same as the current maximum speed, but they’ll be much faster at stopping and starting. That means they can fit in more stops in less time.

Quote:
Another plus: The ride will be a lot smoother than today’s sometimes bone-shaking experience, thanks to the electric acceleration and special air cushioning around the wheels.

Quote:
Signs of progress were clear on a recent afternoon at Stadler’s Salt Lake City facility. Six bright and shiny red-and-white train cars stood out on the assembly floor, skeletons waiting to be filled with the guts of the train’s interior. Workers in bright orange vests aimed laser trackers to mark locations for bolts and screws and started to install stairs and other components.

Even as the work progressed, construction continued on the facility itself, which includes a massive warehouse for hundreds of train parts and special rooms to work on different pieces of the new trains. Big Swiss and U.S. flags hung from the walls.

“In March last year, we literally had cows grazing out here,” said Jacob Splan, the energetic construction manager, as he gave a whirlwind tour of the sprawling plant. “It’s a mad dash right now to finish it.”

Quote:
The car shells make an impressive journey from Stadler’s factory in Altenrhein, Switzerland: They’re trucked to Basel, boated down the Rhine River to Antwerp, shipped across the Atlantic to Houston and then delivered via rail to Salt Lake City.

Quote:
Why Salt Lake City? Utah has a big logistics and transportation industry, and Stadler also is receiving generous tax incentives from the city and the state. Thanks to the Mormon Church’s wide-ranging missionary program, the region also has a lot of bilingual people — German and English can both be heard on the factory floor.

And the folks from Switzerland feel at home among the mountain peaks and snow of the Salt Lake Valley region. “It looks almost the same to me,” said Christoph Brocker, the project manager, who had worked on similar train projects in Austria and Switzerland before coming to the U.S. to build Caltrains.

One difference between working in Switzerland and Utah: “Don’t ask your people to come to work on a Sunday here — they won’t show up,” Brocker said. “But they’ll work twice as hard on a Saturday.”

Originally Posted by Hatman

It will be such an awesome day when Stadler delivers a fleet of these trains to FrontRunner! Minus the strange double-door thing.

(CalTrain is equipping their cars with both low and high platform doors so that they can transition their stations from low-level platforms that require stairs to board, to high-level platforms compatible with the High Speed Trains... that were recently *delayed* by the governor...)

I need to get over there and get some pictures! These new shells and finished cars will be my new white whales.

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[Busy Bee]

^More Caltrain photos at calmod.org for those interested.

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Delta Air Lines official says Salt Lake City airport rebuild will give its hub a huge competitive edge in the West


(Leah Hogsten | Tribune file photo) The new Salt Lake City International Airport expansion project on Monday, Oct. 22, 2018. The first phase construction of the $3.6 billion project is due to open in late 2020.

Lee Davidson, Salt Lake Tribune - https://www.sltrib.com/news/politics...ines-official/

The ongoing $3.6 billion rebuild of Salt Lake City International Airport should give Delta Air Lines and its hub there a big competitive advantage in the West, a top airline official said Wednesday.

“We’re going to look back on it and go, ‘That was money well spent,’” Holden Shannon, Delta’s senior vice president of real estate, told a convention of the Airports Council International, meeting at the Grand America Hotel in Salt Lake City. He added that the new airport “is remarkable.”...

..."The most important project we have is Salt Lake City, right here,” he said. The project, Shannon added, will make what had been considered airport palaces “look like a cottage” — and should make Utah’s capital the hub that passengers prefer in the West.

He praised the new design with parallel terminals between two runways. He said it will help avoid bottlenecks seen at too many other airports with spiderweb designs, where planes that have landed often must wait for aircraft that are blocking narrow taxiways before advancing to gates. It should help keep operations on time.

The design also makes expansion easier by adding more parallel terminals as needed.

Salt Lake City’s new gates are designed to accommodate aircraft of many sizes to offer great flexibility to airlines and their operations.

While many airports create huge entry and check-in areas, Shannon said, Salt Lake City and other new Delta projects seek to put less there and put more space and better facilities where passengers spend most of their time — at and beyond security around gates.

Shannon said new Salt Lake City terminals will include more seats, all with access to power plug-ins, and more area for lines at check-in — instead of obstructing crowded hallways. Also, the airport will be designed to allow international passengers to more freely use biometrics — such as eye scans — to avoid the need to present passports in different areas.

He said Salt Lake City will have a new Delta Sky Club that “will be an amazing amenity. It will have almost 30,000 square feet and gorgeous views of the mountains.”

Concessions chosen for the airport offer the sorts of food and retail most passengers want, Shannon said, while some other airports tend to offer choices that are too exotic and expensive.

“What we’ll see in the Salt Lake City airport," he said, “is much more relevant and thoughtfully placed and branded high-quality concessions.”

Shannon added that the rebuilt airport will be “a vehicle for commerce and expansion here” that will benefit the state...

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[llamaorama]

Stadler recently landed the contract to build 254-354 rapid transit cars for MARTA in Atlanta too so that assures the plant will stay running for a while.

[delts145]

Originally Posted by airhero

I noticed a building permit application was submitted for phase 2 of the north concourse construction. I didn't see any news on this so I wondered if they were going to continue building the rest of the concourse (all the way to the red line), or just the rest of the blue portion (to the orange line), if anybody knows. Currently it is framed out to about where the yellow line is. I'd imagine they are doing to the orange line as many gates would be inaccessible if the built to the red line.



Here's a picture of what is currently constructed.

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