Virgin Atlantic brought its first Boeing 787 Dreamliner to Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (HJAIA) to celebrate Virgin’s pending launch of direct service from London to Atlanta.
The new plane, christened “Birthday Girl”, landed on Runway 9R/27L, which was part of a recent widening project completed by Aviation Infrastructure Solutions (AIS) to accommodate anticipated increased operations by larger aircraft, such as the Dreamliner 787 and the Airbus A380. As part of AIS, Pond provided civil and electrical engineering services for the airfield improvements. The project encompassed the layout and pavement widening design for two midfield runways and associated taxiways.
This project was designed under a highly aggressive production schedule with six months from Notice to Proceed to design completion. As such, the project team utilized cutting edge laser scanning technologies for airfield survey data collection (Mobile LiDAR) and static scanning for validating the existing condition at the concourse.
The project also involved modifications in the airport’s E Concourse, to accommodate a dual passenger boarding bridge system. The Virgin Atlantic passengers deplaned at the new International Terminal, for which Pond designed the airside parking apron as part of AIS.
These projects are just two of the many that Pond has provided engineering services on over the past 13 years at HJAIA.