LAX Central Utility Replacement Project

Project Description:  This design-build effort involved installing: 

• approximately 4.1 miles of welded steel chilled and hot water supply and return lines that ranged in size from four to 36 inches in diameter
• 13 cast-in-place mechanical vaults (the largest is 24 feet wide by 24 feet long by 14 feet deep)
• one mile of ductile iron fire water piping that ranged in size from six to 24 inches
• one mile of 10-inch PVC reclaimed water piping
• one mile of 12-inch domestic water piping
• 17 miles of power and communication conduit
• 25 pre-cast vaults for power and communication systems that required multiple steel casing jack and bores with depths of 22 feet, tunneling under World Way to feed the new Tom Bradley Terminal

Further connections to existing airport terminals were required to convert the airport to the new central utility plant (CUP), as were extensive traffic and pedestrian control measures, and related pavement and surface features restoration. Shoring for joint trench and tunneling/jack and bore pits were predominantly beam and plate shoring. Some joint trenches were 19.5 feet wide and 18 inches deep and required significant supporting of utilities. All work was performed as part of the construction of the new Central Utility Plant (CUP) in the world’s 5th busiest airport. W.A. Rasic Construction performed Building Information Modeling (BIM) in-house for all portions of the underground work while performing 10 months of exploratory excavations.