Turner, Flatiron to build new $2.265 billion San Diego International Airport terminal

A joint venture led by Turner Construction and Flatiron Constructors will construct San Diego International Airport’s new $2.265-billion terminal.

The 1.2 million-sq-ft, 30-gate project will replace the airport’s existing Terminal 1, which opened in 1967 with a capacity of 2.5 million passengers, a figure that has more than quadrupled over the past half-century, Engineering News-Record (ENR) has reported. “Pending receipt of federal and state environmental permits, plans call for construction to begin in late 2021. To maintain the airport’s existing operational capacity, the new terminal’s first 19-gate phase will be completed in 2025, with an additional 11 gates to be opened two years later.”

The new terminal will include sustainable and energy-efficient features, enhancing the airport’s $1-billion Green Build expansion of Terminal 2, completed in 2013. Taxiways and airfield improvements will reduce taxiing times, and an underground aircraft fuel delivery system will also speed gate turnaround time.

Jacobs is designing the the San Diego County Regional Airport Authority’s $3-billion airport redevelopment plan and the terminal is the project’s centerpiece. Other facets include airside capacity improvements, landside roads, a 7,500-space parking structure, stormwater management systems, a security blast wall and associated utilities, ENR reported.

“In addition, the authority has also developed a plan to address impacts from higher sea levels, more intense rainfall and extreme heat. Part of this plan includes a partnership with the Scripps Institution of Oceanography to monitor rising sea levels using advanced sensors in San Diego Bay.”

COVID-19 has caused the airport’s traffic to decline greatly from its 25-million passenger volume in 2019.  ENR says current traffic is about 30 per cent of what was recorded a year ago.