52x02 - Extreme Airport Engineering

[bunniefuu]

♪ ♪

NARRATOR:
In New York City,

designers, engineers,

and construction workers...

DAN MURPHY:
Watch the boom!

NARRATOR: are on a
once-in-a-lifetime mission

to build an
extraordinary airport.

TONY VERO: We didn't realize

the magnitude of what we
were going to be up against.

NARRATOR: The city's
new LaGuardia Airport

has a budget of
more than $8 billion

and will be America's first new
airport in more than 25 years.

RICK COTTON: The United States

has fallen way behind
in terms of infrastructure.

CARMELA CINICOLO A
new LaGuardia is something

that we always knew we needed.

NARRATOR: While
planes continue to fly,


rebuild the old airport here,

to create a brand-new
fully connected facility

that can handle more than 34
million passengers every year.

RYAN MARZULLO: This
is such a massive program,

how are we going
to pull this off?

JESSICA FORSE:
It's a 24/7 operation,

all hands on deck.

NARRATOR: To meet this
enormous engineering challenge,

the team will battle
extreme weather...

KEVIN GILLEN: Probably the
worst storm we've seen in five years.

ANA TIMOVA: Being out
on the steel while it's wet?

Very dangerous.

NARRATOR: and
control massive machines.

CINICOLO: One wrong move,

we could strike a building.

NARRATOR: Can they
complete one of New York's

largest infrastructure
projects in a generation,

while keeping all
the planes moving?

The likelihood
of the entire thing

falling out of balance
is very, very real.

NARRATOR: The
exclusive inside story

of "Extreme Airport
Engineering."

Right now, on "NOVA."

♪ ♪

NARRATOR: New York,
the city that never sleeps.

More than 120 million people

fly in and out of the
Big Apple each year.

GINNY ELLIOTT: Airline
travel is in high demand,

particularly in New York.

MAN (whistles): Taxi!

NARRATOR: In a city that
seems in a perpetual hurry,

commuters expect fast,
efficient transportation.

CINICOLO: We're New
York, we have to have

the best of the best...
we should be leaders.

NARRATOR: So, this team
of architects and engineers

has designed
America's first new airport

in a quarter of a century.

MARZULLO: Well, this
is once-in-a-generation,

once-in-a-lifetime,

once-in-a-career
type of experience

that we're about to embark on.

♪ ♪

NARRATOR: In 2016, New
York's LaGuardia Airport,

which sits to the
east of Manhattan,

is handling around 550,000
passengers each week.

But by 2030,

it's expected to need
capacity for almost 20% more.

So, the plan is to demolish
the separate terminals

and rebuild them, connected,


the edge of the site.

Twin pedestrian bridges

will lead passengers
to their gates.



will enable new
two-lane taxiways

that let planes
circulate freely.

It'll take 72,000 tons of steel

and almost 600,000
tons of concrete.

But LaGuardia's new terminals

will finally be fully unified,

an airport fit for


Work on the new airport

begins in June 2016,

at this special
groundbreaking ceremony.

This transformation can't come
too soon for commuters here.

This is my first
trip to LaGuardia

and probably my last.

I don't want to come back.

NARRATOR: The old airport
is run down and overcrowded.

So now there are
two separate teams

designing and
building the airport,

one for the new Terminal B

and one for the new Terminal C,

while the historic Art Deco
Marine Air Terminal A...

built in the 1930s...
will be preserved

to safeguard its unique
architectural features.

The two terminal teams
face a monumental challenge...

the size and shape of the site.

For a major airport,

LaGuardia is small,
and it can't get bigger.

It's hemmed in by
water on one side

and highways on the other.

There's no space to expand.

And to make their
task even more difficult,

the team must keep the
airport fully operational

throughout construction...

flights cannot be shut down.

DEREK THIELMANN: Closing
the airport just isn't an option.

We have to find a way to

maintain the existing
operation and build, build new.

NARRATOR: As the team
transforms the old airport,

they must keep at least


At Terminal B,

first they're building
a new concourse

with 18 new gates,

and demolishing
half of the old gates.

Then they'll repeat
that on the other side:

build and demolish.

At Terminal C,

first they're building a
completely new concourse

on the water's edge
with seven new gates.

Then they'll build and
demolish the rest in stages.

♪ ♪

It's an ambitious
nine-year plan,

and they must keep the
airport open for business

while they work.

COTTON: All of
LaGuardia would fit

into Central Park with


The construction project
at LaGuardia is a ballet

on a postage stamp.

There's simply no room.

NARRATOR: The lack of space

and complex logistics

force architects to design
an innovative new layout

for the new Terminal B.

♪ ♪

PETER RUGGIERO: As commercial
air travel grew and expanded,

the idea was, don't keep

making it longer and linear,

but simply start to
fold it to create fingers.

The original plan for LaGuardia

was a classic example
of the finger design.

NARRATOR: During the 1960s,

as more people flew,

aircraft grew in size to
hold more passengers.

But bigger airplanes
mean that fewer can park

around the
finger-shaped concourses.

The inefficiency of the finger

is found in these
inside corners.

NARRATOR: Large
aircraft can't easily maneuver

in and out of
these tight corners.

So, LaGuardia's new Terminal B

will have a radically
different shape.

It will use a satellite design.

RUGGIERO: On a
freestanding satellite concourse,

you can even
park on the corners.

The airlines and
the airport operators

found great efficiencies
in this design.

NARRATOR: The
new design transforms

the four fingers of
the old Terminal B

into two freestanding
satellite concourses.

Aircraft can park all
around the perimeter,

with many different routes
leading to the runway,

reducing time on the tarmac.

Getting passengers from
the new main terminal building

to the concourses
is more complex.

They could dig tunnels
under the taxiways,

but this would likely take years

and add millions of
dollars to the project.

The design team's
audacious solution:

two vast pedestrian bridges,

so high above the tarmac

that all aircraft here
can pass beneath.

♪ ♪

First task...

before engineers can
build the pedestrian bridges,

they must construct
the 850,000-square-foot

main terminal building

and two satellite
gate concourses

that the bridges
will connect to.

CINICOLO: It may look crazy,
but it's really a managed crazy.

That is the only way
to a successful program

and achieving these milestones.

♪ ♪

NARRATOR: Constructing
LaGuardia's Terminal B

on time and on budget

is up to a team of engineers

led by Carmela Cinicolo.

What's the completion date?

MAN: By the middle of next year.

Okay.

NARRATOR: Carmela and her team

manage 30 different contractors
and a $4 billion budget.

CINICOLO: In
construction, it's dynamic.

It's constantly
changing... day in, day out,

there's a new issue that arises

while we close
out a prior issue.

♪ ♪

NARRATOR: Working with
Carmela to deliver the new Terminal B

is Jessica Forse.

Today, Jessica checks on

construction progress for
the main terminal building.

It's a 24/7 operation,
all hands on deck.

NARRATOR: It takes almost
four years of intensive work

to build up the
enormous steel structure

of the four-story terminal.

FORSE: Ultimately, what
will be the most amazing

about this area is really
going to be the vistas, right?

The, the glass wall and the,
and the view upon the airfield,

and really just taking it to
a whole new level... the light

and the, the
experience for people

that, that, to see the
airfield through this

kind of really very grand space.

We are probably just peaking
out with overall volume of workers

that we have in this location.

There's tons of activity.

NARRATOR: With the
main terminal building

and two satellite
concourses taking shape,

the team must connect them.

Building Terminal B's
two vast pedestrian bridges

could be their
toughest challenge.

CINICOLO: The erecting of
steel is to take place right now.

We're at that point
in the schedule.

♪ ♪

NARRATOR: The team will
use two different techniques

to construct each bridge.

The eastern bridge will be
built out onto shoring towers,

one piece of steel at a time,

to meet in the middle,


But the western bridge will
be constructed differently.

They will build it in
six massive sections

on the ground from


then lift these vast
trusses into place

on top of the shoring towers.

The final two sections must
fit with millimeter accuracy

to complete the
nearly 500-foot span.

Only then can the team
remove the supports

and clad the bridge.

MURPHY: The size of everything
we're using is much bigger.

The steel is much bigger,

the equipment is much
bigger... it can be nerve-racking.

I have... I will admit, I've
lost sleep on this project.

NARRATOR: Today, superintendent
Dan Murphy must install

the biggest truss on
the entire airport build.

MURPHY: This
is the heaviest pick

on the project, all right?

And there is no other
g*ng I want doing this

than your g*ng, obviously.

NARRATOR: This is a critical job
for Dan and his team of ironworkers.

They all need to
bring their A game.

So, we pick this
thing up, and if it is

too out of whack vertically,

we're going to talk
about what we need to do

in order to put this
thing back down safely.

Hopefully, that's not the case,

hopefully, it's on
the money, but

we've, we've been wrong before.

♪ ♪

CINICOLO: It all
looks positive to go.

We're all excited.

It's the next phase
of the construction,

and all the stakeholders
are here to witness it.

It's one exciting time.



♪ ♪

NARRATOR: The crane driver gently
hoists the top of the 200-ton truss,

gradually standing it up.

RAFIK MOAWAD: When you're
tipping the big truss like this,

it's also, is very important
to make sure, you know,

you got to tip it right
and get it straight.

MAN: Easy, baby, easy, easy!



Easy!



Nice, nicely done!

NARRATOR: The first
pedestrian bridge truss is upright.

Nicely done.

NARRATOR: And
ready to lift into position.

But as the crane
raises it off the ground

for the first time,
there's a problem.

MAN: We're way out, huh?

Jesus.

NARRATOR: The truss is
now dangerously uneven.

It's higher by five-and-a-half
feet at one end.

The load is unbalanced.

Try to lift it now,

and the rigging
bolts could snap,

causing the truss to fall.

CINICOLO: When working
with these large pieces of steel,

there is really no
margin of error.

NARRATOR: The team
carefully lowers the truss

back down horizontally

and races to adjust the lengths
of the crane-rigging cables.

CINICOLO: It's a balancing act.

There's risk factors there,
so we have to make sure

that the steel is
perfectly balanced

so that our crane operator
has the level of comfort

to raise it into its
proper position.

♪ ♪

NARRATOR: With
the rigging reset,

the team attempts to lift again.



MAN: Up we go.

NARRATOR: The crane raises
the truss upright once more.

♪ ♪

MAN: Easy, easy, easy.

NARRATOR: It's
the moment of truth,

as the truss
rises off its blocks.

MURPHY: Now
let's see how bad it is.

It was six feet out before.

That's good, that's good.

NARRATOR: They've done it.

MURPHY: That's beautiful.

NARRATOR: The truss
hangs straight and true,

parallel to the ground.

That's better than third time's
the charm, right? (laughs)

NARRATOR: The team uses
two taglines to control the truss

as the crane swings it around
towards the shoring towers.

♪ ♪

The 115-foot-long truss

rises 70 feet into the air.

♪ ♪

Now these
high-walking ironworkers

must guide the steel
into its proper location.

MOAWAD: The issue
here is how we can align

the three pieces and
the three connection

in the same elevation
and the same time.

♪ ♪

Right now, we have two
crew, one working this side

and one working this side,
and they'll try to align it.

NARRATOR: It takes over an hour

to wrestle the 200
tons of steel into place

and bolt the three
connection points together.

The first of six massive trusses

is in position.

♪ ♪

Now we can breathe...
now we can breathe.

♪ ♪

NARRATOR: This pioneering
bridge begins to take shape

high above the airfield below.

To the far east of the site,
LaGuardia's Terminal C

sits on a narrower and
more compact parcel of land.

This creates a different
set of challenges

for the team tasked with

constructing the new
airport buildings here.

The Terminal C design

will look radically
different than Terminal B.

Project manager Manny Incorvaia

leads the hundred-strong
Terminal C design team.

INCORVAIA (chuckling):
There's no more land.

We're just constrained
everywhere.

There's no, you can't
build in the water,

environmental nightmares.

There's just no space.

We are penned in by
the water on the north side

and the Grand Central
Parkway on the south.

NARRATOR: To make the
best use of the limited space,

the team must push
Terminal C back

to the eastern
corner of the site.

They'll build three
long finger concourses

and one extra
finger, Concourse G,

on the edge of the bay.

This way, they'll have
the 37 gates they need,

and enough space
for two-lane taxiways.

And that's one of
the primary goals,

is to put in dual taxi lanes,

get them flexibility
as much as possible

at each gate.

INCORVAIA: I think it'll be
a complete transformation.

Everything will be different.

There's nothing that's
going to be the same.

It's going to be all
brand-new, it'll be awesome.

You see that? Now,
now you notice it. Yes.

NARRATOR: Program
director Ryan Marzullo is tasked

with keeping the construction
of this vast terminal...

that has many
moving parts... on track.

New York needs
a proper front door,

front entrance, and a gateway

to the greatest
city in the world.

And so, we're going
to go from, you know,

being a joke to being
a shining example.

NARRATOR: On the
southeast side of the site,

Ryan's team faces a particularly
complex engineering challenge,

to build Terminal
C's Grand Entrance.

MARZULLO: We'll peak out
at about 1,300 men and women

on site building
this new terminal.

The amount of work
going on on a daily basis

is absolutely phenomenal.

NARRATOR: This will be Delta
Airlines' gateway to the new airport.

This façade will welcome

almost 14 million
passengers a year

and lead them into a
light-filled departures hall.

First impressions here count.

New Yorkers are very
demanding and very opinionated,

and we designed
our facility around that.

NARRATOR: The grand
entrance to Terminal C

is designed to be
both spectacular

and to improve passenger flow.

A smaller curbside building
will provide express bag drop

and direct access to
security in the main terminal

via a footbridge.

Engineers could build a
vast roof over the forecourt,

but that would block light.

So, architects proposed a


called an oculus

to flood the
entrance with light.

It's an ambitious design

that will present a
particularly tough challenge

to Ryan and the
construction team.

MAN:: Come down
a little bit more!

NARRATOR: The oculus is built

from almost 400 pieces
of interlocking steel.

The truss that sits across
the forecourt roadways

at the east end of the oculus

weighs 80 tons.

This will be the biggest lift
on the Terminal C project.

♪ ♪

Raising the truss in one piece,

rather than in smaller sections,

will save time.

Terminal C's
complex phasing plan

hinges on Ryan's
team installing this truss

before the roadways to
the terminal can be built.

MARZULLO: We need
to get this piece of steel,

this massive piece of steel,

this roof truss, up in the air

to allow the
roadways to continue.

So critical day, critical
moment in the project,

and it allows us to keep moving,

because this is
on the critical path.

DAVE WHITEHOUSE: We're
gonna make one critical pick,

pick it up, put it into
place, slowly walk it in.

The whole thing
should take six hours,

so it's a, it's a
little stressful.

♪ ♪

NARRATOR: Dave
Whitehouse is under pressure

to complete this lift
earlier than planned

to avoid a storm
that's moving in.

Trying to lift during a storm

could be deadly
for the ironworkers.

Being out on this steel
while it's wet, very dangerous.

You can't weld in the rain,
because you get electrocuted.

Uh, so weather is
definitely a big factor.

NARRATOR: And it's not
just rain that's a concern.

Wind gusts could make the
truss impossible to control.

TIMOVA: After certain
mile-per-hour winds,

the crane has to get shut down,
because it's way too dangerous

to have any pieces in the air.

NARRATOR: Dave's
team feels the time pressure

as they prepare the
oculus steel for liftoff.

WHITEHOUSE: The ironworkers
are working really hard.

They're working ten-hour days.

Everybody's trying
to get this ready.

Time is everything.

NARRATOR: Terminal C's
designers are making the best use

of the limited space available.

But there's a particular problem

with the location of
this terminal building.

Its position on the bay

makes the terminal
extremely vulnerable

to storms and flooding.

We're on a body of water.

So, what kind of flood designs
do we need to take into account?

NARRATOR: Severe floods have
devastated LaGuardia Airport in the past.

In 2012, Superstorm Sandy
smashed the East Coast

and plunged the
airport into chaos.

GARY FRATTALI: The wind
blew the water and the storm surge

over the embankment,

and that, we just became
inundated with that.

When that happened,

this entire area was flooded.

NARRATOR: An estimated


swept over the
airport's storm wall.

Terminal C's network
of concrete storm drains

and its main pumphouse
were completely overwhelmed.

♪ ♪

The flood shut down
the airport for three days.

A quarter of a
million passengers

had their flights canceled,

costing the airport over
$1.1 million in lost revenue.

♪ ♪

Today, the design team must
ensure that the new Terminal C

can withstand anything
Mother Nature throws at it.

INCORVAIA: The structural
design will have to account

for this flood-event wave action

that can come
and hit the building.

We don't want the
building floating away.

NARRATOR: Concourse G
will sit right on the water's edge,

directly in harm's way.

The team must
raise it up 20 feet

onto concrete columns
to allow any floodwater

to pass harmlessly underneath.

MARCO CIPOLLETTI: When
you are talking about Concourse G,

that's definitely going to
be a structural challenge.

The bottom floor
cannot be occupied,

and so we will have
to design the structure

to basically sit on
columns and exposed,

so that will be,
need to be designed

for a possible flood event.

NARRATOR: It takes


the new 1,000-foot-long
and 77-foot-tall Concourse G.

♪ ♪

Its glass walls give commuters
a unique view of the bay,

while its raised ground
floor should prevent a storm

from triggering a
catastrophic inundation.

The team is
engineering additional

innovative features underground

to prevent a superstorm
from overwhelming Terminal C.

They are constructing
a brand-new

five-mile-long storm drain
network beneath the airport

that should make it
more resilient to flooding.

FRATTALI: What we're
doing today is inspecting

the drainage lines just to
make sure that there's no debris,

they didn't leave any sandbags
during the construction effort.

Because it's plastic,
but it's corrugated

to give it the same
strength as the old concrete.

I don't know about
the durability of it yet,

but we're going
to find that out.

♪ ♪

NARRATOR: Engineers run
checks through the network

to ensure it remains free
of any blockages or debris.

VITO LOGIUDICE: I'm
a little claustrophobic,

but I'd rather be there

than up high.

You know... (laughs)

I put a lot of trust into,
to the guys I work with.

They can always pull me
out if something ever happens.

So that's good. (chuckles)

I have been down
where Vito is before.

I'd rather be up
here now. (laughs)

Getting a little
too old for that.

♪ ♪

NARRATOR: The team
lowers a special camera,

known as the sea snake,
into the storm drain.

FRATTALI: That's
tethered to a monitor.

I'm watching for the
shape of the pipe.

It, it should be
completely round.

I want to make sure that the
ceiling has not collapsed down,

where it makes the pipe oblong.

You can see that there's no,
um, obstructions in the line.

NARRATOR: The sea snake
has already helped the team locate

some major issues
in the new pipes.

FRATTALI: We have found
two-by-six planks of wood,

collapsed pipes,
several sandbags,

concrete that wasn't removed.

The sandbags would have
stopped flow completely.

NARRATOR: The
pipes should be clear,

but today, the sea snake
has found a blockage.

FRATTALI: The
camera was underwater,

so we couldn't see what it was,

but we pushed whatever
it was into the manhole,

because when we pulled
the camera back out,

the water was gone.

So we cleared the line.

So I don't know what
it was, but it worked.



NARRATOR: The
team can come up for air.

They've checked almost


Just another 26,000 to go.

Today is a critical day for
Terminal C's ironworkers.

They will lift and
install the massive truss

that forms part of the oculus

for the main terminal's
grand entrance.

WHITEHOUSE: This is like a big
high-profile milestone for the project.

So last night,

my wife put the plate of
food in front of my face,

and I just, just played
with it a little bit.

I was a little stressed out,
slept for about two hours.

NARRATOR: Moving
the schedule earlier

to avoid the impending
storm has paid off.

Conditions right now
are close to perfect.

JARED KRAUSE: Slight breeze,

but beautiful day to do
this type of operation.

NARRATOR: Even so,

lifting an 80-ton truss
up 100 feet into the air

is not easy.

This job falls to crane
operator Matt Hayes.

HAYES: The biggest challenge

is moving the crane, and the
piece is going to be moving.

So, it's swinging back
and forth, it could possibly

hit the boom if it got out of
control, which could actually

collapse the boom, which
would be a major problem.

♪ ♪

NARRATOR: But lifting the truss
isn't the only challenge the team faces.

They must also bolt it
into place at roof level.

The roof of the grand
entrance is not yet reinforced.

A hole allows workers
access to connect the truss.

Only once the
truss is in position

can they reinforce
the entrance structure

to take the full 80 tons.

The crane will hold
the truss steady

as ironworkers race to bolt


beams into position.

Nice and easy, all right?



NARRATOR: With
the team assembled

and the truss hooked
up to the crane...



the biggest lift on the
Terminal C project begins.

The only thing
that's left is really

for the crane operator
to do his magic.

NARRATOR: The 100-foot-long
steel monster ascends.

MAN: Keep pulling
on it, keep pulling on it!

♪ ♪

NARRATOR: It takes a
nerve-shredding 30 minutes

for the team to hoist
the truss 100 feet

into the air.

Now the ironworkers
must bolt it into place.

TIMOVA: My job is
to make sure that it's

safely guided into the
point that it has to connect to.

And I am securing
it once it is in place.

NARRATOR: One of
more than 20 ironworkers

connecting the gigantic
steel truss is Ana Timova.

TIMOVA: I was a
barber before this,

and when I first heard
about ironwork, I was, like,

I don't want to go out on
a dirty construction site,

wear a hard hat, and
be outside in the cold.

Now I, I love it.

Your first time up on the steel

with, you know,
nothing underneath you

and about five inches
to walk on, it's awesome.

I love the history, you know?

Here at New York,

we had the, you know,
the Flatiron Building.

We have the Empire
State Building,

the Brooklyn Bridge.

That's all built by ironworkers,

and it's an amazing history.

NARRATOR: New York
ironworkers have shaped

and reshaped the city's
famous skyline over the decades.

They honed their
daredevil sky-walking skills

during the boom in
skyscraper construction

in the early 20th century.

TIMOVA: Just to know
that I'm part of that history,

it's an amazing
feeling, it really is.

WHITEHOUSE: You couldn't pay
me enough to do what these guys do.

These guys, I think,
would do it for free,

and I wouldn't do it for all the
money in the world. (laughs)

MAN: All right,
should be good there.

NARRATOR: Ana and the
ironworkers must guide the oculus truss

so it slots into three
connection points

on the main terminal building.

Five inches!



NARRATOR: Touchdown!

The truss finally soars
over the grand entrance.

Seeing that big


go up is pretty amazing.

NARRATOR: But just
a single slender beam

takes the enormous
weight of the frame.

The team must now work quickly

to bolt the reinforcing
steel beams into position.

KEN CHASE: We have to
install the rest of the steel,

and that is the more
support and more strength.

NARRATOR: Ironworker Ken Chase

races to deliver
bolts to his crew.

MAN: What do you need?

MAN 2: I need shorties.



MAN 1: How many
do you want? Right on.

You want those
bolts in there, too?

Communication is
essential... essential.



There's so much banging around,
you start to lose your hearing.



I have! (laughs)

Started to lose it, that is.

Hearing, that is. (chuckles)



NARRATOR: The first
bolts for the reinforcing steel

are now in.

But every minute the
truss hangs in the air

is another minute of danger.

CHASE: Many
things could go wrong.

We could have rigging
failure, for one thing.

That's just a cataclysmic event.

A lot of people that
can be potentially...

k*lled, you know?
Plain and simple, yeah.

NARRATOR: Ken's team
can't make any mistakes

as the oculus truss
hangs in the balance.

TIMOVA: And it has
to be done quickly,

especially because the
piece is in the hook already.

So they can't just say, "Okay,
guys, hold on, let's put it down

while they fix it up there."

♪ ♪

NARRATOR: They must work quickly

to position all 12
reinforcement beams.

Now the oculus is in
place, it's sitting down,

they're going to
make the connections.

NARRATOR: To connect the
truss to the main terminal building,

ironworkers must
now install 200-pound

steel keeper plates.

This calls for some
serious muscle.

TIMOVA: Even the strongest guy

is not going to lift one of
these plates up by themselves

and move it, so we
set up a come-along

to move the plate over
and slide it so that the piece

can fit into its little pocket.

NARRATOR: This ratchet,

known as a come-along, helps
force the plate into position.

CHASE: We have to
finagle it, as they say.

It's almost like,
you got to just,

like, squeeze it in, you know?

TIMOVA: Now it's
just making sure

that the plate fits properly,
all the holes line up.

Some people are,
like, "Oh, you just go,

you stick a bolt in
a hole, and that's it."

It's not, it's, like, a lot of
science that goes into it.

There's a proper size
bolt that has to be in there.

There's a certain amount

of threads that have
to show or can't show.

There's a proper tension

that each bolt has to have.

NARRATOR: As Ana and
the team thread the final bolts

through their holes,

Dave can start to relax.

WHITEHOUSE (chuckling):
I was worried about it

all night last night,
didn't eat too much.

But everything went great.

I feel like I'm hungry.



But everything went great.

♪ ♪

NARRATOR: The
eastern truss is secure,

and the crane can
release the full 80-ton load.

WHITEHOUSE: The oculus is up,

nice and tight,
everything's good.

NARRATOR: The grand
entrance is taking shape.

Now work on the next
phase of construction...

the arrivals and
departures roadways...

can begin below.

TIMOVA: When you're
part of a big project like this,

it's something that for years,

you're going to
be able to see it.

Or if somebody ever says,
"Hey, I'm flying out of LaGuardia,"

like, "What terminal?
Oh, I built that."

You know? Like, it's,
it's an awesome feeling.

NARRATOR: In just 30 days,

the western oculus
truss is in place.

The construction team
has realized the vision

for the entrance to Terminal C.

♪ ♪

As old buildings are
demolished, and new ones built,

the layout of the airport
evolves constantly,

changing over a hundred
times since work first began.

Every chance we get to capture
some real estate and build,

that's what we do,

keeping the
facilities operational,

keeping the aircraft moving,
keeping the people moving,

keeping the cars on
the roadways moving.

Been a very complex puzzle

that we've had to solve.

So what we do here is,

we build something new,
and then we tear down the old,

and then we build something
new, and then tear down the old.

NARRATOR: The challenge
of keeping passengers

and planes moving here

is made even tougher
by the extreme weather

that strikes this
exposed airport.

GILLEN: We live and
die by the forecast.

Three days ago, the,
it was looking only like

an inch or two of snow, and
now we're looking at over a foot.

NARRATOR: Tonight, the
airport's chief of operations,

Kevin Gillen, and his team
are gearing up to battle

their biggest
snowstorm in five years.

GILLEN: We're expecting,

like, serious
blizzard-like conditions,

heavy winds, heavy snow.

NARRATOR: With
construction activity

at full speed, the
arctic conditions

slow down building work

and bring air
traffic to a standstill,

grounding almost 200 flights.

This is the team's
worst nightmare.

It's up to Kevin and his crew

to get the airport
back up and running

as soon as possible.

All right, good
morning, everyone.

I'm sure everyone knows

we're in snow condition five.

DIONNE SYPIOE: Snow has
always been equivalent of work for me.

So, no, I don't, I don't
necessarily get a joyous feeling

when I see snow in
the forecast. (laughs)

We're going to get a
lot of blowing snow.

We're talking about


with gusts of 40 to


NARRATOR: Dionne Sypioe
will coordinate the mission

to clear the runway with Kevin.

She is in charge of 20
operations supervisors

and 30 plow drivers.



NARRATOR: Dionne dispatches
four multifunctional snow plows

to the runways.

Construction constantly
changes the boundaries

of the taxi lanes,

potentially placing new
fences and machinery

in the path of the plows.

GILLEN: The airfield itself
has changed dramatically

in the past 12 months,
so now the drivers

find themselves in places
when there's whiteout conditions

that they're not used to being.

NARRATOR: Extreme weather
is an ever-changing challenge

for operations teams at
airports like LaGuardia.

New York can be hit
by brutal winter storms

and sweltering
summer heat waves.

ELLIOTT: New York has
four seasons, supposedly.

You just don't know when, when
that season is going to occur.

NARRATOR: For New
York's new LaGuardia Airport,

a fail-safe way to both
heat and cool the hub

is crucial to keep planes
and passengers moving.

COTTON: Future-proofing
a facility has to be

a central guideline in
terms of how you build it.

NARRATOR: So the
airport's new Terminal C

features an innovative
engineering solution.

An electrical substation
built into the airport terminal

generates enough power
for around 8,000 homes.

It also packs in six
enormous boilers

to heat the interior
spaces in winter.

And to cool the terminal in
New York's scorching summers,

there are five
high-powered chillers

and 65 huge ice storage tanks.

Heating and cooling
the old building was

like trying to heat
and cool your house

with the windows
open and the stove on.

NARRATOR: But
that's all changed.

The new system
is groundbreaking.

Temperature
sensors give engineers

Robert Rovelli and Mike Alfano

real-time information
throughout the new terminal.

ROVELLI: If one area is hot

within a 50-foot
area, we can literally

see that on our computer screens

and adjust just that area.

NARRATOR: Today, the
system will be pushed to the limit.

A state of emergency
has been declared.

The snowstorm has
caused temperatures

inside the terminal to plummet.

We got some cold temperatures
on the connecting bridges, wow.

It's cold.

Let's ramp that up.

NARRATOR: Mike heads over

to check on the
six vast boilers.

ALFANO: Today is
brutally cold out there.



The wind is howling,
so that is the challenge

of the day, is making
sure the boilers stay online

and we keep the place warm.

These parti... (alarm beeping)

Ah, we just had a failure!

NARRATOR: The
primary boiler has failed.

Outside air feeds
the boiler flame,

but the savage storm winds
are forcing too much air in

through the vents,
blowing out the pilot flame.

I need to get a boiler
up online A.S.A.P.



NARRATOR: They must urgently
get heat back into the system.

ALFANO: If I can't get
another boiler to come on,

my hot water temperature
is going to start dropping,

and that's where stress
will start to come in.


softly) Trying to fire up.

And we were lucky.


loudly) No, we lost it!

NARRATOR: The heat is on Mike.

I'm going to make
sure that this boiler runs

at a higher firing rate,
giving me a better chance

that the wind can't blow it out.

NARRATOR: Mike
doubles the boiler flame size.

And it works.

The howling wind outside can
no longer blow out the boiler.

We come together as a team.

That's why we call
each other brothers.

We are the unsung heroes.

♪ ♪

NARRATOR: Outside,
on the frozen airfield,

Kevin and Dionne
check that the clearance

of the two runways is on track.

♪ ♪

CHRISTOPHER
CLIFFORD: We got about 18

to 24 inches coming in.

This is the worst storm
we've had in a few years.

Right now, we're
going up and down,

making sure there's no
snow and ice build-up.

NARRATOR: These mammoth
machines weigh over 28 tons each

and can clear almost

four million square
feet per hour.

SYPIOE: If we were to allow

the snow to accumulate,
that would increase

our chancing of icing on
the runways and taxiways.

♪ ♪

NARRATOR: As night falls,

the storm finally
clears New York.

Thanks to Kevin,
Dionne, and the team,

the first planes can
safely land in the morning,

and construction work can resume
on the $8 billion redevelopment.

GILLEN: Fortunate enough
to have a young staff here

who's anxious to chomp
at the bit at a storm like this,

to get this airport back
to where it belongs.

♪ ♪

NARRATOR: Across the site,
construction work on the new

main Terminal B building
is progressing at high speed.

FORSE: The biggest challenge

is just the volume of
things that are left to do

and the amount of different
people that have to do them.

NARRATOR: Lighting and
electrics are now installed,

the walls of the departures
hall are plastered and painted,

and the brand-new tiled
flooring has been laid.

FORSE: We've just come
into the departures hall.

As you can kind of see,
all the ticketing islands

kind of up and ready to go.

You can imagine yourself coming
in, checking in for your flight.

NARRATOR: As the inside
of the main terminal building

nears completion...

♪ ♪

outside, the team is
under intense pressure...

to complete the 2,500-ton,


that connect the
terminal to the new gates.

The eastern bridge
is now complete

and connects the main terminal
building to the eastern gates.

Today, they must haul
the connecting truss

of the western
bridge into place.

This will complete the span.

It's a major milestone.

MOAWAD: Very
exciting, very exciting.

Oh, come on, this is the
last one, very exciting.

NARRATOR: The
crane holds the truss

just above its
connection points.

As the ironworkers
get into position...

MURPHY: Look at these clouds
coming in, you gotta be kidding me.

NARRATOR: Mother Nature
throws superintendent Dan Murphy

a curveball.

MURPHY: We've got the
truss assembly up in the air.

The wind has picked
up, which is not good.

NARRATOR: It's now a
race against the elements

to install the truss
before the team

loses control.

MURPHY: I'm not, uh...



Not liking what I'm seeing.

Watch the boom.

Watch the boom!



If we gotta take
it out, take it out.

NARRATOR: The wind threatens
to blow the bridge truss installation

off course.

Dan and his
ironworkers must act fast.

It needs to be level
to come straight down

and not get hung up on anything,

not touch anything.

NARRATOR: The
truss slides down into

the connection plates
on all four corners.

The team tightens 240 bolts.

♪ ♪

NARRATOR: They've finally
completed the steel span.

And the very first pedestrian
crosses the new bridge.

MURPHY: All of those
components coming together

to make this successful is...

It's why we come
to work, really.

♪ ♪

NARRATOR: Over
the next 20 weeks,

they clad the steel trusses

and install more than


to enclose the bridge.

It's a huge achievement
for the Terminal B team.

It is a significant milestone.

I'm very proud of the guys.

♪ ♪

NARRATOR: Inside, the team is
completing another major landmark

for the project...

the installation
of the airport's

vast new baggage system.

The new airport must
be able to process



Getting the right bag
to the right aircraft

requires an ingenious system.

ANGELO SALGADO:
Each bag is given a bag tag.

This bag tag becomes basically

the license plate of the bag.

This bag tag has

a unique identifier
that will then be tracked

throughout the entire system.

NARRATOR: A network
of scanners reads the tags

and automatically directs
the bags left or right

to the correct loading bay.

Vertical sorting units
also move bags up

or down a level, if needed.

Before all baggage

moves airside, the conveyors
shuttle it through security.

The new state-of-the-art
technology

that we have in security

can pick up anything,
but if it picks it up,

it's dealing with it,

dealing with it swiftly.

NARRATOR: With up to


how can engineers
ensure a suspicious bag

is not sent onto the aircraft?

Special expl*sive detection
machines scan every bag.

If they raise a red flag,

bags are rerouted to TSA
agents on the lower floor

for hand checking,

while cleared bags must go
up a level to reach the gates.

NARRATOR: Vertical
sorting units... VSUs...

are an essential part
of the security system.

Their conveyors divert
the bags either up or down,

depending on whether
they are cleared or not.

The VSUs automatically ensure

a suspicious bag never
makes it onto an aircraft,

keeping the skies
safe for passengers.

It's protection of life,
protection of property,

then resume operations.

♪ ♪

NARRATOR: It's now a race

to the finish line for Jessica

and the Terminal
B team to complete

all elements of the fit-out.

Workers battle to wire up
the vast network of lights,

install more than 3,000 seats

and 250 toilets,

and lay more than 80,000
square feet of carpet.

FORSE: I feel relieved.

It's a really great
accomplishment.

It's nice to see
all the hard work

and all the planning works
exactly as you've drawn it up.

♪ ♪

NARRATOR: It takes four
years of painstaking planning

and relentless construction...

but now LaGuardia's first
new terminal is finally ready

to welcome passengers.

VERO: Each milestone we
were able to deliver to the public,

they started to see
the transformation.

And today is just

one more in that
series of steps.

And it's, it's just
great for all of us.

NARRATOR: Terminal
B now has 850,000

square feet of
light-filled space,

with streamlined check-ins...

custom artworks,

and large cafés.

Departure lounges
now offer modern,

spacious rest areas

for even the most
discerning New York traveler.

COTTON: They're
walking into a facility

which has 55-foot-high

floor-to-ceiling glass, art,

an enormously appealing,

modern,
global-standard facility.

And just to see the
surprise on their faces was

very striking and
very satisfying.

FORSE: It's been
a very long project,

so to see all these
accomplishments over time

and celebrate them
is really important

to keep the motivation
up and going.

♪ ♪

NARRATOR: Outside, with
the new taxiways complete,

the team gathers to celebrate
another major milestone.

The first aircraft
will finally pass

beneath the 65-foot-high
eastern bridge,

and planes will have more access

to and from the gates
of the new terminal.

The twin bridges
represent a world first.

Never before has an
airport used two bridges

over active taxiways.

They will revolutionize
operations at Terminal B,

allowing aircraft
greater flexibility

to taxi around the
airport, reducing delays.

COTTON: If an airplane is
coming in from one direction,

the departing aircraft
can be pushed out

and leave in the
other direction.

So, you should never hear a
pilot again at LaGuardia say,

"I'm sorry, we can't push back

because there's an airplane
blocking our alleyway."

VERO: So many
different entities are part

of a multibillion-dollar
project like this.

And it's just so
important to take a minute

and celebrate the wins,
celebrate the victories.

Everyone is filled
with pride today.

♪ ♪

NARRATOR: The brand-new
Terminal C opened in 2022,

with construction on
the last gates finishing up

about two years later.

♪ ♪

Altogether, it takes
more than eight years,

$8 billion,

and a unique vision

to transform LaGuardia
from America's worst airport

to one of its very best.

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

♪ ♪