Charlotte - Douglas International Airport

Location: Charlotte, North Carolina

Project Value: $88,026,781.00

Project Completion Year: 2011

Grading, Drainage & Paving - Package I & II
C.D.I.A. AF99-031,AF07-020,AF08-005, LD09-0009 (0703,0804,0807,0912)

E.S. Wagner Company, LLC is very proud to be a key player in what has become a dramatic expansion at the Charlotte-Douglas International Airport.

Having begun in April of 2007, E.S. Wagners first package of work called for the construction of 8.5 million cubic yards of embankment for a new 9,000 foot runway and connecting taxiways. E.S. Wagner also installed 52,000 lineal feet of storm drainage ranging in size up to sixty inches and has excavated approximately 300,000 cubic yards of rock to date. 3,766 feet of cast in place box culvert were installed and a staggering 505 acres were cleared.

The initial contract included a 720 calendar day interim completion. This interim was in place to ensure that the necessary amount of grade would be ready in advance of paving activities. This amounted to approximately 90% of the earthwork on the site over a period of two years. With work beginning in the spring of 2007, E. S. Wagner quickly realized that the only safe way to ensure completion of the work on the target date was to attempt to complete the project prior to winter 2008. E.S. Wagner utilized as many as five high production earthwork operations simultaneously, and excavated in excess of 50,000 cubic yards in a single shift. By essentially completing the required earthwork by December 2008, E.S. Wagner attained the maximum available early completion incentive of $2.5 million.

As the earthwork subcontractor on the paving package at the airport, E. S. Wagner was responsible for over 400,000 cubic yards of excavation, over 1 million square yards of fine grading, 148,000 tons of aggregate base placement and over 75,000 lineal feet of underdrain.

E. S. Wagner next took on the construction of two large bridges on the taxiways that connect the new runway and associated taxiways to the existing airfield. After securing the contract, E.S. Wagner worked directly with the Airport and the design engineers to offer some alternatives that would reduce cost and save valuable time. The final design still included over 4 million pounds of structural steel, 3 million pounds of reinforcing steel and 13,000 cubic yards of structural concrete. Despite the complications of tremendously wet weather and footing elevations below the water table elevation, this work was also completed significantly ahead of schedule. The structures finished 74 days and 131 days prior to their respective completion dates.

The combined early completions of the runway and bridge projects allowed for the opening of the new portions of the airfield in January, 2010 certainly well in advance of any of the Airports initial projections.

E.S. Wagners most recent work on site involves the relocation of West Boulevard which is a roadway that follows the existing southern perimeter of the airports property. This road had to be relocated to allow for the future construction of an intermodal facility which is to be located in the very first borrow pit E.S. Wagner excavated for the construction of the runway and taxiway embankments. As was the case with the taxiway structures described previously, this project involves a bridge over a future railway. It also requires approximately 275,000 cubic yards of earthwork.

With work for this project beginning in the spring of 2010, E. S. Wagner is excited to maintain a presence at this progressive and rapidly developing site into 2011.