Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport Renovation Project 2013

DFW International Airport is undergoing a massive seven year – $900 million dollar terminal renovation project. One of the tasks is to connect the airport to downtown Dallas via the DART rail, which is a light rail system. The DART will run between Northbound Service Road and Northbound International Parkway, and under Taxiway Yankee and Taxiway Zulu at the North end of the airport. Due to the type of work that needs to be accomplished, multiple lane closures are needed in various phases throughout the project

Phillips May Corporation of Dallas, Texas assisted with the project. In June and July 2013, development included lane closures of the 3 lane Northbound Service Road . Thirty-foot concrete traffic barriers (CTB) were delivered to the site on flat bed semi trucks. Using two Gehl telescopic handlers that were each fitted with a Kenco KL 9000 Barrier Lift, the wall segments were removed in unison from the truck beds.

The Kenco Barrier Lifts made a light task of what could have been heavy work. The CTB was picked up and placed in desired location, while flaggers were able to maintain one clear traffic lane during the operation.

One concern that was encountered was how to place and align the CTB under the overpasses of the Taxiways. The low height considerations posed a possibility of the machine damaging the overhead structure. To add to the challenge, the roadway converges to only two lanes at these points, and the airport still required that one lane remain open for traffic.

Once again, the Kenco Barrier Lift resolved the situation. A KL 30000 was chosen to handle the wall capacity and it was attached to a Volvo 320 excavator. Tyson Proovost operated the Volvo, maneuvering it along the future rail path and setting the CTB into position without disrupting the traffic flow.