Seattle-Tacoma International Airport’s gleaming new $1 billion international terminal is a bust after design flaws mean that it can’t accommodate as many widebody planes it was meant to – and it will now cost millions to make changes.
The massive renovation to expand Seattle-Tacoma International Airport’s arrival facility was intended to simultaneously fit 20 large aircraft – but the end results in 2022 showed the facility could only hold 16, according to the airport operator, the Port of Seattle.
Clark Construction located in Maryland was the sourced company behind the design that is now being re-envisioned by the Port which will cost officials $78 million.
The Port sent a letter to the construction company last year to complain about their shortfall, which they estimated led to a 20 percent lessened capacity for international flights arriving at the airport.
The letter read that the facility can result in, ‘damages to the Port’s operations in the tens or hundreds of millions of dollars over the expected life of this project,’ the Seattle Times reported.
Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (above) paid $1b for a botched renovation job and may have to pay millions more to fix it, officials claim
The eight year project concluded last year and was supposed to expand the international arrival facility to simultaneously fit 20 large aircraft. Pictured: Construction on the airport
Apart of the renovations was to extend the arrival facility at Concourse A by 450,000-square-feet, according to the news outlet.
The Port’s original budget laid out a $344 million bill in 2014. But the price tag significantly increased to $968 million amid the pandemic and other additional costs.
According to the news outlet, the funding for the project was provided by airport fees, including parking costs and revenue from airport shops.
The renovations was supposed to take four years to complete but was ultimately delayed until 2022.
While new plans to expand the airport are in the making, lawsuits have been filed by both the Port and the construction company.
Clark Construction filed an about $60 million lawsuit against the Port arguing that the company wasn’t paid for extra labor, pandemic building costs and changes to the design during construction.
But at the start of the year, the lawsuit was countered by the Port for $100 million to cover the cost of fixing the flawed design.
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The renovations was supposed to take four years to complete but was ultimately delayed until 2022. Pictured construction workers at the airport in March 2022
The Port sent a letter to the construction company last year to complain about their shortfall, which they estimated led to a 20 percent lessened capacity for international flights arriving at the airport
The eight year project concluded last year and was supposed to expand the international arrival facility to simultaneously fit 20 large aircraft
Apart of the renovations was to extend the arrival facility at Concourse A by 450,000-square-feet
Clark Construction located in Maryland was the sourced company behind the design that is now being re-envisioned by the Port which will cost officials $78 million
The Port argues that after testing out the renovations with aircrafts, they concluded the space needed to park planes along with moving fuel trucks and luggage carts wasn’t suffice.
A total of four gates were identified as having issues. The Port further said the construction company hasn’t helped at identifying solutions.
Clark Construction denied in a statement to the news outlet that they had done anything wrong.
According to Pacific Northwest President Brett Earnest, the construction company successfully finished the project while meeting ‘the Port’s established goals and requirements.
‘The current gate configuration is consistent with the Port-approved concourse study and meets the specifications and requirements per our contract,’ the statement to the news outlet reads.
Earnest added: ‘The Port is now identifying modifications to gate design based on operational considerations that were not contemplated in the program requirements in our contract.’
Clark Construction has taken the lead on other massive airports projects, including the newest terminal at Kansas City International Airport that opened this year.
The company was also responsible for Seattle’s Convention Center.
