Airport Terminal & New Concourse

2009 Design Award Honorable Mention

Location
Indianapolis, IN

Structural Engineer
Fink, Roberts and Petrie, Inc.

Architect
Aerodesign Group

Steel Joist Manufacturer
Canam

Steel Fabricator
Cives Corporation (Terminal) and Hillsdale Fabricators (Concourses)

The scope of this project included the terminal, concourses and entry canopy for the new Indianapolis Airport.

The roof is uniquely shaped consisting of a saddle shaped double curve in one direction and a single curve in the other direction with two-way exposed steel trusses supporting a grid of fifty six foot long curved joists that make up the secondary framing. The joist system serves several functions in addition to carrying the vertical gravity loads. They were designed to laterally brace the top chords of the primary trusses and the bridging system was designed to torsionally brace the perimeter girder of the roof.

The joist framing was selected as the most economical means to frame the long spans between the primary trusses. The overall tonnage was significantly less than if wide flange purlins were used.

Airport Hangar

Transportation

Key Aviation at Anoka, MN, airport was the name of the project. The Owner requested a 76,000sf hangar for private jets. By changing the system from metal fab building to structural long span and precast, we where able to save over $500,000 in cost and reduce delivery time by 2 months.

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JetBlue Airways Airport Terminal

Transportation

This project provided a complete unit airline terminal with 28 gates and 465,000 total square feet of area. Joist framing for the roof structures allowed the designers to design a maximum performance framing system with absolute minimum weight and cost. Open web joists and joist girders were used throughout with moment connections allowing these elements to be used in some locations as a part of the lateral load resisting system. Large (up to 80,000 pound) air handling units are supported on roof structures using paired open web joists. In the main ticketing hall the repetitive use of a single profile open web joist allowed the architect to express the structural system as an architectural element.

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Airport Ballroom Expansion

Transportation

This project included the addition of a ballroom and improved food service preparation areas to be completed for the 2014 Super Bowl. 60DLH joists up to 70 ft long created the roof for the structure and also supported a complex system of loads below.

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