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Center (ConRAC) is a 5-story, 6.4 million square foot facility that houses over 18,000 rental cars for various rental car companies.

ConRAC opened on April 19, 2021, and is now one of the largest facilities of its kind in the world. Today, LAX is one of the busiest airports in the world, serving millions of passengers each year and connecting Los Angeles to destinations around the globe. It is also an important hub for several major airlines, including American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, and United Airlines. Overall, these projects aim to improve the passenger experience, reduce traffic congestion, and promote environmental sustainability at LAX.

Runways, taxiways, and aprons are also regularly constructed and upgraded at LAX. These include but are not limited to the South Runway Improvement Project in 2017, the Center Taxiway Improvement Project in 2018, the New North Taxiway Project in 2019, and the Terminal Area Improvement Project in 2021, which relocated and expanded several taxiways to improve safety and increase efficiency in the terminal area.

Sully-Miller Contracting Co. (Sully-Miller) has been involved in several paving and infrastructure rehabilitation projects at LAX over the past several years. In 2018, Sully-Miller began paving and grading work as part of the Airport Roadway and Utilities (ARU) Project. This included the construction of new roadways, parking lots, and underground utility upgrades. In 2019, SullyMiller was contracted to construct the new Taxiway P. In 2020,

Sully-Miller worked on several projects at LAX, including the Landside Access Modernization Program (LAMP). Then in 2021, Sully-Miller began the rehabilitation of Runway 7R/25L with a focus on replacing the 80-foot-wide keel section on the south airfield. They also replaced the reinforced concrete approach slabs over the Sepulveda Boulevard Tunnel. They also replaced asphalt and installed LED lighting on the centerline, and lighting at high-speed exit

Taxiways H6 and H7. Additionally in 2021, Sully-Miller completed the installation of the Taxilane C9, replacing a 60-foot-wide section of the full-length (882 feet) of the taxilane.

Currently, Sully-Miller is working on the Taxiway D Extension at LAX for LAWA. The $84,500,000 project began in February 2023 and is scheduled for completion in June 2024. The Taxiway D Extension at LAX project called for the demolition of existing pavement, subgrade preparation, stabilized base, PCC and AC pavement, airfield lighting electrical work, airfield markings, airfield signage, relocation of electrical equipment, and demolition of existing facilities and buildings. LAWA decided to extend Taxiway D westerly to better manage airfield operations and to meet FAA standards. This will also reduce wait times on the airfield, leading to less idling and a decrease in air pollutant emissions. Overall, the project increases

Middle:

Bottom: operational efficiency, which reduces delays and enhances safety.

Travis Clausen has been with SullyMiller for 17 years now and he is the Construction Manager overseeing operations on the Taxiway D Extension project at LAX. “The existing Taxiway D stopped around halfway down the airport runway area, and we are extending it the rest of the way. We are specifically extending Taxiway D to the west to provide another east/west taxiway route on the north side of the airfield. The area was previously a maintenance yard and bus operations facility. These structures are scheduled for demolition by our subcontractor, Silverado Contractors, to make way for the new taxiway,” says Clausen. “The job is being completed in eight major phases with subphases within those phases. The reason for the phases within phases is to allow for proper access to the aircraft and the general live airport situation. For instance, we are currently working in front of the FedEx maintenance facility at LAX, and they need to get their planes in and out without disruptions. So, we had to cut the work in half. The phases also overlap. Right now we are on Phase 2, 3 and 3A and about to begin Phases 4 and 4A.”

Before any new pavement can be installed, sections of old concrete and asphalt must be removed. “We selfperformed the removal of the necessary concrete pavement sections and subbed out the asphalt milling. This material is stockpiled and used as fill and base material throughout the jobsite,” says Clausen. “We also self-performed around 72,000 yards of grading and excavating work. After all of the removals and

{ Continued on page 22 } grading were complete, our crews placed 6 inches of crushed miscellaneous base material (recycled asphalt/concrete mix) in preparation for installing the new concrete pavement sections.”

Sully-Miller is self-performing all of the 47,000 cubic yards of concrete, 24,500 tons of hot mix asphalt, with more than 20 miles of wire installed by subcontractor, Aldridge Electric. The concrete is coming in by mixer truck daily from Catalina Pacific and the hot mix asphalt will be provided by Blue Diamond Materials. “The new 2,300-foot-long Taxiway D Extension will be paved with 19 inches of P-501 concrete on 12 inches of lean concrete base,” continues Clausen. “Every day is different when it comes to productivity. It all depends on the particular phase and section we are paving on any particular day. Once the lean concrete base is in, we move to install all of the electrical in that section. It will probably take four days before our crew can complete the paving of one 20-foot-wide lane of concrete. The length of each new concrete pavement section can range from 100 feet to 1,000 feet, depending on the particular phase and working area and conditions.”

Clausen points out that there is a large amount of conduit, electrical and lighting that is being installed while each section or lane is curing. He also says that the concrete paving process requires the installation of thousands of 31,000 steel dowels at the pavement joints and rebar anywhere you don’t have a perfect square, like on curved edges. “We are doing the concrete paving work with our new Gomaco GP3 slipform paver, but will soon be swapping that out for our Gomaco Commander III slip form paver. Our GP3 is needed on another project on the 15 freeway at Oakhill,” continues Clausen. “Interestingly, Los Angeles World Airports does not allow slipform paving and even though we are using a slipform paver, specifications are written such that we must use side form on the pavement. This is standard procedure for LAX and I have been out here on various jobs for the last four years and we are used to getting it done that way. We are allowed to slipform the lean concrete base and LAWA seems to be very happy with the results.”

According to Clausen, after a concrete lane section is complete, his crews go to work to grade and place base material on the outside of the section where the asphalt is going to be put down. “After we prepare the outside of the lane section for pavement, we install more electrical and then pave two layers of P-401 asphalt mix,” says Clausen. “All of the lane shoulders are asphalt, along with the infield areas and drainage swales.”

Clausen makes it clear that all airport projects come with their fair share of challenges. He confirms that the single biggest challenge on this project is properly phasing the work on an active, live airfield. “For example, we were supposed to close on a phase of construction last night, but due to specific ongoing airport operations, we were asked to suspend construction. That is just part of working on an airport job. We are expected to remain on schedule and just have to come back the following night and hope that we can resume operations,” says Clausen. “We are working day and night on this project with around a 40-to-50person crew in the daylight hours, and an 8-to-10person crew at night. We do most of our removals at night and the grading and earthwork by day in order to avoid the busy airport traffic.” Clausen says that there are always delays, including all of the trucks that must go through security before entering the runway areas. “Even though our concrete and asphalt suppliers are only a few miles away, it still takes around 40 minutes to get the material onsite,” continues Clausen. “Concrete, for instance, has to be poured within 90 minutes of leaving the plant. So, delays and unforeseen issues can cause a load to be refused and returned, but we know that is just part of the deal when working on an airport project.”

For Clausen, it almost seems that his work at LAX is never going to end. He has been working onsite on one project or another for the past four years. “I have job projection plan on my wall in my office and I could easily be at LAX for another 10 years, and that is just fine by me. I work with Steven Gomez, who is the Superintendent on this project. We have worked very well together for the past 17 years at SullyMiller and he and the rest of the crew members are what make it all worthwhile,” concludes Clausen. “I am extremely proud of the work we do out here for LAX and it is only possible with a great company like Sully-Miller and the outstanding individuals that work here.”

Sully-Miller Contracting is a construction company based in Southern California that provides a wide range of services, including asphalt paving, concrete, grading, and underground utilities. Founded in 1923, SullyMiller is celebrating their 100th anniversary this year. Its teams have worked independently and alongside industry contractors and engineering firms to deliver a wide range of projects, from full reconstruction and major expansion projects to minor maintenance works. Sully-Miller has completed over 40 projects within the last 10 years at local airports throughout Southern California including LAX, Burbank, John Wayne, Long Beach Airport, and Ontario Airport. Cc

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