OWNER: Port Authority of NY&NJ, NYC
DESIGN-BUILD-OPERATE-AND-MAINTAIN CONTRACTOR: AirRail Transit Consortium, Jamaica, N.Y. (a joint venture of Skanska USA Inc., Slattery Skanska, Bombardier Transit Corp., Koch Skanska Inc., Sordoni Skanska Construction Corp., Perini Corp., STV Inc.)
OWNER'S DESIGN CONSULTANT: Parsons Brinckerhoff Quade & Douglas Inc., NYC
CONSTRUCTION MONITOR: Tishman Construction Corp., New York, N.Y., and Bechtel, Jamaica, NY
STRUCTURAL ENGINEER: Figg Bridge Engineers, Tallhassee, Fla.
STRUCTURAL ENGINEER: Mueser Rutledge Consulting Engineers, NYC
STRUCTURAL ENGINEER: Ysrael A. Seinuk, P.C., NYC
CIVIL CONTRACTOR: Slattery Skanska Inc., Whitestone, NY
FOUNDATION CONTRACTOR: Underpinning & Foundation Construction, Maspeth, NY
PRECAST CONCRETE CONTRACTOR: Bayshore Concrete Products, Cape Charles, Va.
PRECAST CONCRETE ERECTOR: Koch-Skanska Inc., Carteret, NJ

Airtrain has arrived. It is the first light rail system in New York - and JFK's got it.

This 8.4-mi. system will transport airline passengers to and from the John F. Kennedy International Airport's (JFK) terminals, parking lots, the A-train and buses, subways and the Long Island Rail Road in Jamaica, N.Y. - completing a long-awaited dream of a "train to the plane."

Airtrain features a guideway system with two tracks, most of which is elevated from 25 ft. to 50 ft., based on what has to be crossed over. On the Van Wyck Expressway, the guideway is elevated 45 ft. to 50 ft. above the highway. The guideway consists of cast-in-place concrete columns on pile-supported foundations; precast concrete segmental guideway girders with precast concrete deck; and the track bed will be concrete with pandol clips to hold the continuous welded rail track in place.

The entire project is design-build-operate-and-maintain (DBOM) and as such, work had to progress while the airport remained operational and traffic in and out of the airport kept flowing.

To perform the required work and keep the airport operational required the use of a computerized scheduling program, an overview of the central terminal area, aerial photography to determine work zones that would minimize disruptions to airport operations and coordinating access to existing parking facilities for airport customers.

In addition, biweekly coordination meetings were held with each tenant and Port Authority of NY&NJ (PA) construction project personnel. This helped to minimize disruption to airport operations.

Furthermore, to keep traffic flowing in and out of the airport, construction along the Van Wyck Expressway was performed at night and work was performed in one lane in each direction at a time.

Utilities were another concern. There is a multitude of utilities that went to the terminals. These included electricity, power, gas, water, air conditioning and heat and communications cables. All information regarding the location of these underground cables was obtained and verified so a plan could be drawn up to re-route them during construction.

Furthermore, the project's size necessitated identification of the most economical foundation support system for the guideways. A tapered tube pile was chosen.

The Taxiway underpasses were also challenging. These underpasses had to be watertight excavations. To accomplish this a British Sheet Pile with very light interlocking joints was used to minimize water infiltration. To waterproof the bottom of the excavations, silica grout was used.

The jury called Airtrain "a magnificent undertaking," and "a more substantial and major improvement to John F. Kennedy International Airport."