Showcase Projects
Washington Dulles International Airport Upgrade

Client/Owner
Metropolitan Washington Airports Auth.
Procurement and Contracts Dept. MA 440

Location
Dulles, Virginia

Architect
Burns & McDonnell

General Contractor
Poole and Kent

Engineer
Alpha Corporation

Contract Amount
$52,900,000

The Project
With the planned expansions of the Dulles Airport, MWAA recognized the need to increase the capacity of the existing central plant. The project developed to meet these needs, included: the expansion of existing utilities to accommodate new systems, an additional 16,000 tons of cooling capacity, 210 million BTU’s per hour of heating capacity, and new electric feeds to the utility building. This contract also called for the removal and replacement of existing chillers and high temperature hot water generators, the installation of a new SCADA control system, and removal/replacement of existing auxiliary equipment, switchgear, piping and controls to support the mechanical/electrical upgrades.

PK Role
As both the general and mechanical contractor, Poole and Kent facilitated all daily construction activities, coordinated and supervised subcontractors, and self-performed the installation of the mechanical systems required for this project including the following equipment/systems: state-of-the-art cooling towers to increase cooling capacity from 6,000 tons to 16,000 tons per hour, and new high temperature hot water generators to increase heating capacity from 140 million to 250 million BTU’s.

Highlights/Challenges
Despite working on an operational airfield post "9/11" and incorporating continuing changes to the contract, Poole and Kent addressed these challenges to avoid delays to complete the project on time.

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