This ambitious project replaced Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport’s original 5,300-ft runway by expanding and elevating it to an 8,000-ft-long, 150-ft-wide structure that extends over the existing airport perimeter road, Florida East Coast Railway and U.S. Highway 1. Contractors used a design-build methodology to deliver the elevated bridge and tunnel structure, which helps address the airport’s long-range development capacity goals.

The new runway construction required closure of the existing south runway, decommissioning of the crosswind runway and closing a significant portion of the taxing and staging airfield pavement area. These conditions reduced airport capacity to a single runway for a period of 18 months.

Due to the complexity and size of the project, construction was first divided into two separate packages. The first included drainage, earth embankment and overall site preparation elements, while the second, design-build contract covered the runway structures. The owner, Broward County Aviation Dept., then issued a third bidding package covering the runway and taxiway pavement construction.

Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport South Runway (10R-28L) Expansion

Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

Key Players
Owner Broward Country Aviation Dept.
Lead Engineer/Structural Engineer Atkins
Contractor Parsons Transportation Group
MEP Engineer DeRose Design Consultants Inc.