On Schedule. On Budget. Check out the below story from WIFR. You can view the entire video here.
ROCKFORD (WIFR) – Some construction workers at the Rockford Airport now have a roof over their heads. The new AAR project guaranteed to create at least 500 jobs is still on track and on budget.
More impressive than ever, the two hangars, made up of 52,000 bolts, 1,000 tons of steel, and 200,000 square feet covered by 120 rolls of PVC cover, are the largest pre-engineered structures of their kind. The $40 million project is still on track to finish in June, according to Rockford Airport Executive Director, Mike Dunn. The South hangar is already fully covered and crews have also poured the flooring where the offices and owner suites will be.
“It’s mammoth. People can’t understand until they actually get out here, this thing is mammoth,” says Dunn.
“It’s always strange when you put it on paper and then you go out to the job site and it looks so big,” said architect Dan Roszkowski, President of Larson & Darby Group. “Then they start putting the walls up and it starts to get closed in again. It’s a unique thing to be a part of.”
According to Scandroli Construction, the wind has been the most challenging thing to deal with so far on the project, however, despite those difficult conditions, construction has been able to continue without any problems, “The biggest challenge out here is the wind, it’s extremely windy on calm days,” said Joe Scandroli, company president. “There are just some days it’s so windy the crane can’t go up, so obviously when they’re up 100 feet in the air trying to roll a tarp it’s challenging.”
Dunn says the two hangars are capable of housing an Airbus plane, nearly 100 feet tall. Dunn says typical mechanical inspections and repairs on planes that size can last 45 days, “The AAR opportunity is going to bring us opportunity for cargo more than anything and that’s wonderful, that’s something we hope happens,” Dunn said.