Due to the size and complexity of its $900-million South Runway expansion project at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, project owner Broward County Aviation Dept. divided the massive redo into two separate, but still complex, contracts.

Odebrecht-Central Joint Venture was charged with constructing the embankment and major utility infrastructure in support of the new runway structure, which would be erected under a separate contract. Due to the fact that the new, much larger, 8,000-ft-long runway would span U.S. Highway 1, the nearby Florida East Coast Railway and an airport perimeter road, Odebrecht-Central’s job was to build up the eastern-most portion of the new cross section in order to support the now-elevated structure.

In order to accomplish this, the joint-venture contractor needed to move approximately 5 million cu yd of embankment material.

As a result, contractors imported and placed approximately 30,000 to 40,000 tons of material each day.

Over the course of the project, the joint-venture contractor needed to import a total of 11.5 million tons of material to build the massive embankment. And while contractors accepted more than 2,000 truckloads of material to the site each day, they also received 180 train cars of material—via a 6,000-linear-ft rail spur constructed for this project—that equated to another 1,800 truck loads.

Additionally, Odebrecht-Central crews constructed a massive, 325,000-sq-ft mechanically stabilized earth (MSE) wall system, which stands 65 ft tall at its peak.

Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport Site Preparation and NAVAIDS Infrastructure

Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

Key Players
Owner Broward County Aviation Dept.
Lead Design Firm Atkins
Contractor Odebrecht-Central JV (OCJV)
MEP Engineer Atkins/Keith and Associates