Photographer: Chad McGhee, Construction Manager, Stantec, Houston
Submitted By: Elise Clarke, Senior Marketing Specialist, Stantec, Austin

On Oct. 26, 2018, photographer McGhee captured this shot of the demolition underway on the airfield paving project on Taxiway WA at George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston.

“This taxiway had multiple layers of paving that were broken individually. It took three passes of the demolition equipment just to remove the concrete portion,” he recalls. “After all the concrete was removed, the existing asphalt, cement-treated base and subgrade were also removed.”

A full-depth reconstruction of Taxiways WA and WB from Taxiway WG to Taxiway WN is currently ongoing to address the failing pavement.

“This was a daily site visit, checking progress and site safety. Taxiway WA is adjacent to the longest runway at IAH, 15L/33R,” McGhee says. “I had to drive across an active taxiway and a half mile of demolished paving to get to the north end of the site. The aircraft in the background highlights the proximity of Runway 15L/33r.”

McGhee used a Nikon D810 with a Nikon 24-70 F2.8ED lens at 70mm with a setting of f11 for depth of field.