Flight Ramp Facility

The Boeing Company, St. Louis, MO

Services

Construction Manager/General Contractor

Self-performed all concrete foundations and steel erection totaling over 250,000 man hours

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Challenges

• To improve efficiencies, Boeing needed to consolidate ramp services – including fueling, installing avionics and preparing test flights for T-45s (Navy jet trainers), F-15s and F/A-18s − from four buildings into one new complex.
• In addition to project-specific construction complexities, the proximity of Lambert-St. Louis International Airport presented the team with additional communication, coordination and post-9/11 security challenges. 

Achievements

Training for quality
The construction of two Hush Houses used to test costly jet engines, required a comprehensive Foreign Object Debris (FOD) protocol to ensure the highest level of cleanliness and protection. In addition to a detailed process to account for each and every tool used in the area, every construction worker was required to complete a contractor-led training program. This training reviewed the importance of inspecting for FOD and procedures for work stoppage in the event of a concern. Every worker who successfully completed the training received a hard hat sticker. All workers were instructed to stop and remove anyone in the building who did not display such a sticker.

Solutions to special challenges
Due to the proximity of the airport, daily communication was required between the jobsite and the airport control tower to coordinate crane usage. During bad weather, the project was required on many occasions to lower all cranes on site in less than 10 minutes. In addition, since the project started just after 9/11, there were heightened security issues that had to be coordinated daily along with coordination with the FAA, Airport Authority, TSA and the Secret Service. To further complicate logistical issues, the jobsite was merely 600 yards from where Air Force One parked during presidential visits. Each visit required an extensive search of the jobsite and with all work on site coming to a complete stop.  Since this usually happened with very short notice, the group had to establish a communication network between the Airport, Boeing, and all of the subcontractors to quickly communicate this information and minimize both schedule and cost impacts to the project that were created by these disruptions.

A commitment to safety
This project worked over 1,000,000 man hours with no lost time accidents. The key to the safety program was that everyone on site, from the project manager down to the craftspeople, was committed to making this a safe project.

An example of this commitment was the procedure for installing the metal decking on the Hangar Building. Instead of determining a procedure and dictating rules to the ironworkers, a meeting was held with the general foremen and foremen of the ironworker crews. Together they developed a system and procedure that met the requirements for safety. This way everyone had ownership of the process and was committed to making the process work. The result of no recordable injuries speaks for itself.

A smooth turnover
The team implemented a state-of-the-art commissioning program that provided for a smooth, expedited start-up and turnover to Boeing of all of the facilities. This included extensive training of the Boeing personnel who would be maintaining the building once it was occupied. This Commissioning Program was recognized by Boeing’s Construction Management Council as a “Best Practice.” 

Results

Despite a critical and hard completion deadline, site shutdowns and complex construction requirements, the client received a new, fully functional, highly efficient complex that consolidated ramp services for fueling, installing avionics and preparing test flights for three types of planes:  the T-45, the F-15 and the F/A-18. 
_{Projects completed prior to 2005 were performed by McCarthy.}

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Honors & Awards

• St. Louis Associated General Contractors, Keystone Award Project of the Year
• St. Louis Concrete Council, Award for Quality