Dallas Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) continues to take its experience in modular construction to new heights, recently placing six prefabricated “megastructure” modules at the site of its ongoing $3-billion Terminal C reconstruction and expansion program. 

Each module, the largest of which measured 204 ft x 68 ft and weighed approximately 1,200 tons, was transported roughly one mile from a fabrication yard using Mammoet self-propelled modular transporters (SPMTs). The moves were performed during six individual overnight runway closures over a two-week timeframe.

Part of the 115,000-sq-ft initial phase of DFW’s partnership with American Airlines to upgrade Terminal C’s layout, the modules form a double-loaded pier that will provide nine new gates when construction is complete in 2026. Mohamed Charkas, DFW’s executive vice president of infrastructure and development, says the latest milestone builds on experience gleaned from DFW’s groundbreaking use of modular construction in 2021 to create an 80,000-sq-ft concourse for the terminal’s four “High C” gates. 

Along with being almost twice as large as those core-and-shell units, which were fit-out after being set in place, Charkas says the pier modules had 75% of their MEP and fire-protection systems already installed.

“The pipes, cable trays and other pieces to connect the modules were about the only components not included,” he explains, adding that one module also had terrazzo flooring pre-installed as a test.

“It handled the move perfectly,” he says.

The need to precisely position the pier modules in a two-dimensional configuration added to the complexity for the design-build project’s contractor joint venture—Austin Commercial, Azteca Enterprises and Alpha & Omega, also known as AAA. Project executive Kelley Locke, vice president of operations for Austin Commercial’s national aviation division, says a year’s worth of planning, Building Information Modeling (BIM) design and field work went into ensuring that the modules would align as intended with their foundations and each other.

Locke notes that while DFW’s previous experience with modular transport provided a good starting point, “these units were larger and were partially fit-out, which meant calculating the turn radius to keep everything on the runway. We also had to engineer them to function not only as a finished building, but also to survive the move undamaged.”

The planning paid off, Locke says. The moves were executed flawlessly, including lining the modules up on their 10-ft-tall, 36-in-diameter concrete columns.  

“The largest module was set on 20 columns, yet the transport had it within a quarter- to half-inch of spec when it rolled in,” he says. “A few adjustments and everything was perfect.”

More prefabricated modules will be on the move at DFW in the coming months as the airport pursues its multi-faceted $9-billion capital improvement program. In mid-August, the AAA joint venture will transport seven prefabricated modules to the site of the 140,000-sq-ft Terminal A expansion, another double-loaded pier-style configuration that boosts capacity with 10 new gates.

Locke says that while that move will be double the distance of the Terminal C project, experience coupled with team-wide cooperation provides a sound foundation for ensuring success.

“We may fit out those modules even more, such as putting in more terrazzo and maybe some drywall,” he adds. 

The following month will see a more aggressive prefabrication effort as part of the first phase of Terminal F, a $1.6-billion, 400,000-sq-ft project that marks DFW’s first entirely new terminal in 20 years. 

The 15-gate double-loaded concourse will be formed by six modules as large as 270 x 120 ft, requiring what Charkas says will be an even greater level of precision design, construction and synchronization of robotic transports. Terminal F’s design-build team is led by a joint venture of Archer Western Construction, Turner Construction Company, Phillips May Corporation, H. J. Russell & Company and CARCON Industries.

Charkas notes that while DFW has the advantage of land to locate fabrication yards in close proximity to building sites, modular construction can benefit any airport expedite the creation of facilities with adaptable and flexible floor plans.

“The aviation business must continually evolve to meet new expectations,” he adds. “Modularity will get us there.”