ATLANTA — More construction and disruptions are coming to the Atlanta airport for the next six years.
Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport just got approval to start a $1.4 billion expansion project on Concourse D.
Concourse D is not as wide as the other concourses at the world’s busiest airport. It also has smaller gate areas and fewer amenities than other areas.
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Channel 2′s Steve Gehlbach has learned that much of the new concourse will be built on airport property a mile away and then slowly moved into place.
“They travel about one mile per hour,” Frank Rucker, Deputy General Manager over Infrastructure, said.
The sections are approximately 200 feet long, which is the size of a hockey rink. The sections will cross runways and taxi overnight.
“We’ll move it down the ramps and slide it into place and lower it down,” Rucker explained.
Rucker says they looked at closing down the concourse completely or in portions but decided against it.
Eight gates will be closed at a time as pieces are added.
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Once complete, the new Concourse D will go from 60 feet to 99 feet across and be extended almost 300 feet, allowing for larger restrooms, concessions and holding areas, as well as more space to move around.
It will decrease from a total of 40 gates to 34 gates, but will increase overall capacity by allowing for fewer small regional jets to larger aircrafts.
“It will be a much better offering and I think people will be proud of it,” Rucker said.
Construction on the new sections of the building will begin in September and pieces will start being put in place in 2024. The project won’t be complete until the summer of 2029.
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