Legacy - Volume 3, Number 2 - (Page 24)

Began How the Legacy The year was: and Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport was enjoying its notoriety as “the world’s busiest airport.” President John F Kennedy, on . hand for O’Hare’s dedication, proclaimed: >> A plane crossing the O’Hare International Airport’s taxiway bridge in the late 1960s, designed by CTE; (top left) Fred Antonelli, taxiway bridge project manager and co-workers, at work in the early days; (top right) aircraft plans used for load position determination. 1963 >> “This is an extraordinary airport, an extraordinary city, and an extraordinary country, and it could be classed as one of the wonders of the modern world.” The world’s busiest airport was not just a title, it was a fact. And for the busiest airport in the world to function—moving 30 million passengers a year at that time—necessity, truly, became the mother of invention. Just as airport design focuses on bringing passengers close to their point of departure, airport terminals are situated near principal runways to reduce ground operations of aircraft taxiing from landing and takeoff. However, in the mid-1960s at O’Hare, the airport’s layout included a lead-in roadway that presented a barrier to the terminal, and a typical large airplane taxied almost 5 miles from terminal to the runway—at an operating cost of about $800 an hour. But that was about to change, as Fred Antonelli was assigned to lead a revolutionary project at O’Hare, designing a bridge that would significantly reduce taxiing time. Hired in 1954 by Consoer Townsend & Associates— CTE’s previous incarnation—Antonelli was 24 Legacy—VOLUME 3: NUMBER 2, 2008 then in charge of the firm’s airport group. “Loads and blast effects of aircraft were key factors to determine before design,” Antonelli recalls. “We also had to allow proper clearances for cars, trucks and buses driving on the Kennedy Expressway—under the bridge—as well as for a planned subway system operating in the median.” At that time, the Boeing 707 was the largest commercial aircraft expected to use the bridge, though data on new jumbo jets was trickling in from manufacturers. “Ultimately,” Antonelli says, “we used a live load of 600,000 pounds to simulate aircraft takeoff weight for design purposes, and a blast creating a wind velocity of 100 miles per hour, 180 feet behind the aircraft.” The centerpiece of this pioneering bridge, however, was the radiant-heated deck for snow melting. Embedded in concrete, the snow-melting system piped heated oil from O’Hare’s heating and refrigeration building directly to the bridge. Steam heat converted to heated oil through a heat exchanger, creating an ice-free surface for the bridge. “It was so easy; just flip the switch,” adds Antonelli. “And it’s still in use today.” As the taxiway bridge made news around the aviation world, a foiled robbery attempt involving a small design oversight made the pages of the Chicago Tribune. In 1967, two men were arrested on the bridge’s approach as they tried to make a getaway with $2 million in stocks and bonds taken from a jet stopped on the taxiway bridge. They got caught. But it was a lesson learned—that the public shouldn’t have access to the bridge— and fencing was later put in place. The total cost for the bridge and snow-melting system was $1.4 million. In 1965, airline delays cost nearly $1 million per year, which the taxiway bridge was intended to save. After its installation at O’Hare, the taxiway bridge prototype was subsequently reproduced in Dallas/Fort Worth, Los Angeles and London’s Heathrow Airport. “This groundbreaking project really exemplified teamwork,” Antonelli recalls. “It was a cooperative effort of our electrical, mechanical, structural and pavement groups, working together with O’Hare’s heating and refrigeration specialists. Although we already had computers at that time, it was really about people working with people.” L

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Legacy - Volume 3, Number 2

Legacy - Volume 3, Number 2 Contents In the Zone Gaining Altitude Six to Go: Planning Projects Promise Increased Mobility Women's Development Forum On the Move in the Southeast Protecting the World's Future Making the Grade Coming to America A Dedication to Development Looking to the Skies Spotlight on People and Projects An Aviation Innovation

Legacy - Volume 3, Number 2

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