Construction at Pittsburgh’s $1.5 billion new airport terminal is nearing the finish line after years of development, as officials on Thursday voiced confidence that they will reach their longstanding goal of opening before the end of the year.
Airport spokesman Bob Kerlik said the new terminal has reached 80% completion, up from around 60% last February. There’s still a ways to go, he said, but progress is readily apparent behind the building’s remaining scaffolding.
The two-tiered bridge leading up to the terminal from the snowy expanse of the parking lot is a grand affair — longer than the Fort Pitt Bridge, said Mr. Kerlik. The new building’s three-layer design, with departures on top, arrivals in the middle and maintenance on the bottom, was an intentional choice, he said, eliminating a longstanding congestion problem at the current airport.
“Right now at the existing terminal, passengers both arriving and departing are kind of criss-crossing,” he said. “The two levels — two crowds, basically — will be much more efficient.”
The nearly complete parking garage, with 3,300 public parking spaces, stood to one side, partially wrapped in cloth so workers could paint the columns around its elevator.
The construction site’s few-and-far-between visitors were greeted with a rush of warm air just inside the temporary wooden door to the departures level, which protects the workers from the biting January cold.
Inside, dozens of carpenters, plumbers and electricians wearing hard hats and safety glasses were using hammers and power tools to work on the terminal’s vast ceiling.
Allegheny County Airport Authority Executive Vice President and Chief Development Officer Paul Hoback, who had to raise his voice to make himself heard through the racket, said that the construction around him would produce a sturdy structure built to stand the test of time.
The current building, completed in 1992, has been in use for over 30 years, and the new building is built to last at least that long, he said.
There’s a distinct local flair to this project, which the airport made a priority early on in the process. Around 90% of the 1,200 workers onsite are from Pittsburgh and the surrounding region, said Mr. Hoback. The building’s materials also were sourced locally, he said, including its many steel beams, which were fabricated at Sippel Steel in Ambridge.
“It’s fabricated out of the same building that fabricated steel for the Chrysler Building, the Empire State Building, and other amazing landmarks in this country,” he said, waving his hand around the expanse of metal.
At this point, the outside of the building is essentially complete and work has moved to fleshing out its interior, said Mr. Kerlik. Below the construction boards reporters stood on, workers had already finished the level’s terrazzo floors aside from one more layer of polish, Mr. Hoback noted.
The airport's "lifeblood," its baggage system, is operational and has begun testing, he said. Thanks to the terminal’s more compact structure, the baggage system has been shortened from 8 miles to 3, which will reduce wait times for deplaning passengers, he said.
“Bags will be getting to the carousels faster than they do today, across the board,” he said.
The “brains” of the terminal, its main distribution frame in the lower level that powers the structure, will be one of the final additions, said Mr. Hoback.
“You don’t really see technology in this airport right now because that all goes in [at] the last minute, right before we open,” he said.
But there’s still the question of when the airport will be fully functional, which the Airport Authority has declined to share publicly. On Thursday, Mr. Hoback narrowed down its opening date to sometime during the fall — likely September or October — and added that there would be an official announcement at least six months ahead of time.
Once the building achieves “substantial completion,” it will take about three months to get everything up and running, Mr. Hoback said. This will include a public trial, where 1,000 people will test out every part of the airport before opening day in an effort to iron out any remaining kinks, he said.
Mr. Hoback emphasized architectural upgrades in the new terminal that he said create a harmonious relationship with the surrounding landscape.
The roof is meant to mimic the rolling hills of Western Pennsylvania, while the inner supporting columns are each uniquely designed to resemble tree branches. Four outdoor “green roof” terraces, each modeled after a different Pennsylvania ecosystem, will be installed in March.
“I can probably count on my hand maybe five terminals in the world that allow people outdoors when they’re through security,” Mr. Horback said proudly.
The airport’s wildlife team is working with the Federal Aviation Administration to approve landscape materials that don’t attract birds since they are a safety risk with planes nearby, he said.
Ambient LED constellation lighting arranged like a starry night sky, already installed, was one of the features Mr. Hoback said was “near and dear to my heart.”
“The ceiling and constellation lighting is just something like I’ve never felt in another building, [and] I’ve been all around the world,” he said. “This is definitely a different feeling. … It’s going to make every Pittsburgher proud of this new airport.”
First Published: January 16, 2025, 10:26 p.m.
Updated: January 17, 2025, 7:30 p.m.
