T.F. Green Airport Deicer Management System
Warwick, R.I.
Award of Merit
Owner Rhode Island Airport Corp. (RIAC)
Lead Design Firm Gresham, Smith and Partners
General Contractors Cardi Corp.; The Hart Cos.
Civil Engineer HNTB Cos.
Structural Engineer Odeh Engineers Inc.
MEP Engineer D&B Engineers and Architects P.C.
Geotechnical Engineering GZA GeoEnvironmental Inc.
Instrumentation and Control Systems Engineering Dmytryka Jacobs Engineers
Before T.F. Green Airport completed its more efficient stormwater and deicer management system to meet state environmental management requirements in May 2015, the airport collected deicer runoff manually. Crews would use vacuum trucks to remove runoff from catch basin inserts in designated deicing areas and haul it away for treatment.
The addition of a nearly $26-million passive deicer system significantly improved the process. Now, when deicer runoff enters the drains, sensors monitor real-time glycol concentrations. When glycol concentrations reach a certain level, pumps send the runoff through approximately 15,000 ft of pipe to a treatment facility before ultimately being stored in two 2.9-million-gallon aboveground, wire-wound concrete storage tanks. The system also features odor control functions and a quality-control system that allows remote or onsite observations.
The project team achieved perfect OSHA recordable incident and lost-time accident rates during 176,644 worker hours. Special safety training ensured workers heeded gate guards and crossing guards and followed the rules for driving on an active taxiway.
With excavations and trenching as deep as 40 ft in some areas, sheetings or trench boxes were required along with confined space training, including ventilation systems setup instructions. Federal Aviation Administration approval was also required for equipment taller than 25 ft.
