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A $2 billion project to prepare Washington, D.C. 's airports for the 21st century will renovate National and expand Dulles International-without interrupting day-to-day operations.
It's 7:00 a.m. in Washington, D.C. and Interstates 395 and 495, the capital's major traffic arteries, are jammed with commuters. Subway riders crowd the Metrorail lines. At the city's airports, Washington National and Washington Dulles Interna tional, hundreds of taxicabs drop off passengers while dozens of aircraft are readied for takeoff. By day's end, 45,000 passengers will pass through National and nearly 50,000 vehicles will travel on the airport's roadways. Dulles serves 30,000 passengers daily with approximately 500 flights that include commercial, general aviation and commuter air service.
In the midst of all this activity, the two airports are undergoing simultaneous $1 billion facelifts in one of the most complex design, engineering and construction programs in U.S. aviation history. Begun in 1988, the program is managed by Parsons Management Consultants, Washington, D.C., a joint venture consisting of the Ralph M. Parsons Co.; Daniel, Mann, Johnson, & Mendenhall; Parsons Brinckerhoff Construction Services, Inc.; and Delon Hampton & Associates, Chartered. The capital development program includes 159 improvement projects-57 at Dulles and 102 at National, including a new $290 million, 35-gate terminal building. The first 24 gates are scheduled to open in 1997, with completion targeted for fall 1998.
Built by the federal government, Washington National Airport opened on June 16, 1941, dedicated by Franklin D. Roosevelt and heralded as a showcase for a new era in aviation. By 1946, the airport was already serving its design capacity of 1 million passengers a year. By 1993, annual use had climbed to 16.4 million passengers.
National remained under the control of the federal government, as did Washington Dulles after it opened November 19, 1962. Airport revenues were returned to the government, not earmarked for improvements. What few improvements did take place at National over the years were made haphazardly. The airport sorely lacked a master plan for modernization.
With the unprecedented growth in aviation travel in the 1980s, Dulles in particular struggled to keep up. Built to accommodate 6 million passengers a year, Dulles served 10 mil lion by the late 1980s, with 22 million projected by 2000.
A recommendation that Congress lease the...