Done Deals: LAX Central Utility Plant Project Tops Out

Monday, January 30, 2012

LAX Central Utility Plant Project Tops Out

LOS ANGELES, CA, Jan. 30, 2012 – The new Central Utility Plant (CUP) at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) reached a major construction milestone when construction workers placed the final structural steel beam atop the building’s frame on January 24, 2012.

Currently on schedule for construction completion in summer 2014, the $438 million (development cost) design-build project is being built by Clark/McCarthy, A Joint Venture.

In just four weeks, construction workers from Schuff Steel used a Manitowoc 999 Lattice-boom crawler crane with a reach of 140 feet to erect 1,400 tons of structural steel, creating the frame for the new CUP.

An audience of approximately 300 project stakeholders and construction workers celebrated the ‘topping out’ during a ceremony held near the construction site.

As a part of the event, attendees signed the final I-beam adorned with an American flag and an evergreen tree. The beam was then lifted 75 feet high and attached to the top of the structure.

The new CUP is being built to replace the existing 50-year old facility with a modern; state-of-the-art, computer managed utility plant providing enhanced passenger comfort and reliability of utility service and safety within the newly renovated modernized terminals at LAX.

The existing CUP will service the airport throughout construction. Upon project completion, the replacement will be brought on-line and the old CUP will be decommissioned and demolished.

Clark/McCarthy, A Joint Venture is a joint venture between Clark Construction Group and McCarthy Building Companies.

Additional project partners include: Gruen Associates, Los Angeles, architect; Arup, Los Angeles, mechanical, electrical, plumbing, structural, and commissioning engineer; Capital Engineering Consultants, Rancho Cordova, Calif., mechanical consultant; Greenform, Los Angeles, sustainability consultant; and PID Engineering, San Diego, cogeneration consultant.