McCarthy begins construction on transportation center at Bob Hope Airport

McCarthy Building Companies began construction on the new $72.7 million Bob Hope Airport Regional Intermodal Transportation Center (RITC). The facility, which broke ground on July 6, 2012, is being built to provide seamless connectivity for airport, train and bus passengers, as well as rental car customers and bicyclists.

The 520,000-sf project includes construction of a three-level consolidated rental car parking structure with a car wash and fueling system; a rental car customer service building; and a ground level bus transit station for MTA, Burbank Bus, Amtrak and charter/shuttle buses. The bus station features an open air design complemented by 16 art panels adorning all three levels of the structure.

Work also entails construction of an elevated, 1,100 foot-long moving walkway which will transport rental car customers and rail and bus passengers between the RITC and airport terminal.

As part of the project design intended to meet LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Silver certification standards, sustainable construction methods such as maintaining proper indoor air quality, utilizing local labor and materials and recycling construction waste will be employed.  Solar panels generating roughly 1.5 megawatts of clean energy will be installed on top of the RITC by the City of Burbank.

The design-build RITC project features a pre-engineered metal roof, and two post-tensioned concrete deck and beam systems, each approximately 185,000 square feet. Like the moving walkway, it will be base-isolated with triple-pendulum bearings designed to resist a maximum credible earthquake. In the event of a disaster, the facility will serve as an emergency response center.  

The 141 isolators will be placed about 10 feet above ground, which Liu said will not only be rare, but also challenging. “We usually encounter earthquake isolator installation at grade level,” he said. “Having the isolator 10 feet in the air will make the setting and grouting more challenging. The bearing plate has to be set perfectly level and the bolt holes on the base plate have a very tight tolerance. Close supervision on leveling and alignment of the plates are critical to ensure quality and accuracy as repair can be costly.” 

Scheduled for completion in summer 2014, the project is located along Empire Avenue directly across from the Bob Hope Airport Train Station, on a 20-acre site formerly used as a parking lot. A separate parking structure (not a part of McCarthy’s RITC project) is being built at the airport to replace auto parking spaces currently located on land that will become the site of the center.

Some of the major project consultants involved in the Bob Hope Airport Regional Intermodal Transportation Center include: GKK/STV – Construction Manager; PGAL (Pierce Goodwin Alexander & Linville) – Architect; McCarthy Building Companies – General Contractor; Miyamoto – Structural Engineer; Saiful Bouquet – Design/Build Structural Engineer; JMC2 Civic Engineering & Surveying – Civil Engineer; PBS Mechanical and Electrical Consulting Engineers – Electrical Engineer; PBS Mechanical and Electrical Consulting Engineers – Mechanical Engineer; and Anil Verma Associates, Inc. – Landscape Architect. +