Boise Airport (BOI/KBOI), ID, USA

Boise Airport is an important domestic hub in the mid-northwest of the US (Idaho) for passenger and cargo traffic. The airport experienced unprecedented growth between 1990 and 2000, with passenger numbers doubling to 1.5 million a year. This was due to the number of major employers locating facilities to the area and the consequent expansion in business traffic. Passenger numbers for 2005 were just over three million.

The capacity of the old terminal facilities was exceeded several times over. The old facilities were also in need of a security upgrade following new regulations adopted at all US airports. A master plan for the airport upgrade was formulated in 1999 and initiated in 2001. The upgrade of the facility was planned to be undertaken in two phases.

Phase 1, which included the majority of a new terminal building, a four-lane, two-level road system, expanded air carrier apron and new parking facilities, was completed in June 2003.

Phase 2 construction work included a new concourse to serve Horizon Air (one of the major carriers to Boise), with the number of gates increasing from seven to 13, the completion of new security facilities, the link from the new terminal to the airport concourse, and the remainder of the terminal retail including rental-car counters and food court / concession facilities. This work was completed in early 2005.

The first phase of the airport expansion cost $100m, including $40m for the elevated, two-level roadway to the passenger departure area of the terminal on the second floor. The second phase of the expansion cost an additional $10m.

A new construction project began in 2008 with a new air traffic control tower. On 4 January 2008 ground was broken for the project, which is expected to be completed by 2009-2010. The new tower is expected to be 268ft tall and will become the tallest building in the state of Idaho (tallest ATC in the Pacific Northwest region).

The new ATC has been relocated to the south side of the airport so that it can control an existing guard assault strip and also a prospective new runway, which would be constructed south of Gowen Field.

There are long-term plans to expand the terminal and concourse A by 2020.

Currently the airport is on course to become a medium-sized hub by 2017 and will then lose grant funding available to smaller airports (making alternative funding a large consideration).

Boise construction

The 361,473ft², three-level terminal building was constructed with scooped, swooping roof trusses that resemble waves and the building is clad on the outside with architectural stones that give the appearance of rounded river cobblestones. The intention was for the outside appearance to resemble the immediate environment of the airport and to follow a Boise River valley theme. The building is actually of traditional steel member construction with aluminium composite panels attached to the girders and 'stone' cladding attached to the aluminium.

The design has also incorporated a glass enclosed ramp connection from the car park area to the departure area of the main terminal. The construction has given the new terminal an open and airy feeling. There is an overall increase in space of 162%. The terminal facilities now have more room for security, with a new spacious security corridor which was outfitted and commissioned in 2004 (second phase).

The baggage handling carousels have increased in number and size; there are also additional ticket counters and a completely new car-rental concourse (also completed in the second phase).

The two-level, elevated roadway has a four-lane arrivals roadway for private vehicles to the departures area and a two-lane facility on the lower level for commercial vehicles.

Biometric security systems

One of the major requirements of the new security regime currently operated by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in US airports is biometric identification. Boise is one of the airports that have introduced a biometric hand-reading verification system. The supplier for this security system was Recognition Systems Inc (RSI), a subsidiary of the Ingersoll-Rand Company Ltd.

The system was installed by AIC Solutions of Boise to integrate with all of the other electronic security systems of the airport, including CCTV and heat sensor equipment. Boise Airport is using the new system to protect and control access to various areas inside the new terminal. The RSI hand reader can analyse more than 90 unique measurements of the shape and size of a person's hand. This process takes only a few seconds to complete and the data collected can then be compared to the data collated about an individual on a central database. In this way authorised personnel access to sensitive areas can be monitored.

Security enhancements

Construction of the new terminal began only two months after the terrorist activity of 11 September 2001. The security directives of the FAA and the DHS radically changed the scope of the design of the terminal building. The roof structures had to be raised to accommodate additional luggage screening equipment on a new separate third floor. The new terminal structural steel was strengthened and all of the glass structure modified to enhance safety for passengers.

When the phase 1 expansion was completed in June 2003, Boise was one of only three airports in the US that was fully compliant with congressional mandates for 100% screening of checked baggage, using state-of-the-art integrated explosive detection equipment.

DigitalSENTRY vidio storage and control system

The new terminal has an unprecedented number of CCTV cameras in its new system (there are around 580 cameras in the system); reviewing tapes and keeping control of such a system was therefore a major task.

The control and storage system selected was the DigitalSENTRY system, manufactured by Integral Technologies, of Indianapolis. The new system required modifications for it to work with the two different camera configurations at the airport and integrating the access control system was challenging.

DigitalSENTRY is computer-based on a Microsoft platform. The video output from the camera feeds into DigitalSENTRY for digital high-volume storage, while IT personnel monitor the system live on their own computer screens.

The system allows events recorded by each camera to be retrieved quickly by time, date or location. The system also allows pre and post-event viewing. If an access control alarm is triggered, IT personnel can click on a feature on the monitor and see events just before and after the alarm. Each door can have a different alarm time programmed so that viewing pre and post recording is simple.

The DigitalSENTRY system is set to Greenwich Mean Time to avoid confusion about times and time changes. The data is password protected, but the system also has a built-in function that constantly reviews the system to spot any time changes. If an anomaly is found, an alarm is triggered.

The DigitalSENTRY interface is user-friendly enough so that visiting law-enforcement officers can operate the system if IT is not available. All functions are operable via point and click with a mouse.

DigitalSENTRY also allows colour photos to be printed from the camera feed or portions of the tape to be recorded as movie files and saved to a CD. This additional feature has been used extensively. For example, in numerous cases when baggage, laptops and computers were stolen from the baggage claim area, the cameras caught the thieves in the act. IT were able to immediately provide printouts to police, who were then able to stop the guilty parties before they got away.

Boise Airport wireless internet service

In June 2005, MPC Computers, a Gores Technology Group company, announced that it will be the sole corporate sponsor of Boise Airport's new wireless internet service. Free, secure, high-speed wireless connections is now available to all Boise Airport customers throughout the entire facility.

Contractors

The terminal was designed by two groups of architects based in Boise: CSHQA and HNTB. The expansion was then planned and project managed by Avairpros, who were responsible for keeping the airport running smoothly during construction work.

The construction of the terminal facility's first and second phases was undertaken by Layton Construction of Sandy, Utah. The exterior cladding and fire proofing of the structural steel for phases 1 and 2 was the responsibility of Interior Systems Inc.

The four-lane, two-level roadway was constructed by McAlvain Construction Inc. The fitting out of the new car parking facilities, which included 1,000 new spaces, was undertaken by Ampco System Parking, which was also responsible for the new car-parking franchise, ground transportation and shuttle services at the airport.

New Boise air traffic control (ATC) tower

The new 268ft ATC tower is expected to cost around $12.8m, and has formed part of a $28m investment into the airport by the FAA. There will also be an upgrade of instrument landing equipment for low visibility and foggy conditions.

The new ATC will replace the 35-year-old 65ft tower that is currently in use (it won the facility of the year award for control towers levels 5-8 from the FAA in 2007). The new ATC has been relocated to a site on the southside of the airport on the corner of Ulm and Harvard St where there will be a better view of a proposed new 5,000ft third runway that is expected to be constructed by 2015. The tower is being constructed by Layton Construction Company and will use a concrete masonry unit system and also Xeriscape landscaping to save water.

A controversial problem at the moment is an FAA decision to not include a terminal radar approach control facility (TRACON) in the tower, but instead to merge or consolidate Boise into a TRACON centre at Salt Lake City. This has caused a furore in Boise and the solution is not yet known as congress has blocked consolidation of all TRACON with a moratorium. In late 2008, it was still not known whether or not the tower would contain TRACON.