AWARD OF EXCELLENCE: Historic Category

Historic CategoryRonald Reagan Washington National Airport Terminal:
A Historic Concrete Façade Rehabilitation

Gravelly Point, Arlington, Virginia

Submitted by C.A. Lindman, Inc.

National Airport was founded not by an act of Congress, but in desperation by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1938 after much debate over the lack of air service for the Congress. On September 28, 1940, President Roosevelt laid the cornerstone of the original terminal building built by John McShain, “The Man Who Built Washington.” National Airport opened for business with flight service on June 16, 1941.

On June 1, 2007, the repair contractor commenced the Phase 2 restoration of the Terminal A historic concrete façade. This phase was to fully enclose the structure with scaffold access; protect all historic elements to be retained that would not be repaired at this time such as the mosaic ceiling and decorative paving of the loggia; prepare the structure for the realkal-ization process to raise the pH factors in existing concrete; remove all paint from the existing surfaces prior to the hand survey and layout of repairs; perform all concrete repairs designated by inspections conducted by the architect; and finally to apply the specified repair mortars and mineral coating system and color. The ultimate result per National Park Service Historic restoration specifications was to retain as much parent and original materials during repair, so the project had many small areas left intact between spalls.

The contractor had a base crew of 25 technicians onsite full time, on split shifts. High decibel-producing work was conducted at night and repair procedures were executed during daytime hours. Mock-ups and the resulting learning curve were worked through onsite under extremely high levels of inspection by Metro Washington Airport Authority’s team. This process was continued for 545 days to substantial completion, on-time, on-schedule, and on budget at $3,509,978.

Owner
Metropolitan Washington Airport Authority
Washington, DC

Project Engineer/
Designer
Parsons Management Consultants
Washington, DC

Repair Contractor
Grunley Construction Company, Inc.
Rockville, Maryland

Material Suppliers/
Manufacturers
Cathedral Stone
Products, Inc.
Hanover, Maryland

Keim Mineral Systems
Lewes, Delaware