Five consortiums have entered the race for a $2.7bn PPP project to design, build and operate a people-moving system at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). The teams will submit their solutions to Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA), the city agency that operates LAX.
The airport has said it views the automated people-mover as critical to the modernisation of the airport. LAX is presently the second busiest in the US after the Hartsfield-Jackson domestic hub, with 36 million passengers a year.
The five teams in contention, with selected members, are:
- Gateway Connectors: Kiewit Infrastructure with Skanska USA, Meridiam; design by Mott MacDonald and Gannett Fleming
- LA ConnextPartners: Ferrovial Agroman, Bechtel, Cintra, John Laing and Bombardier; design by Bechtel
- LAX Connecting Alliance: OHL USA, Acciona Infraestructuras and Charles Pankow Builders; design by Arup
- LINXS, led by Fluor Enterprises with Balfour Beatty, Flatiron West, Hochtief, ACS and Dragados USA; design by HDR Engineering and HNTB Corporation
- PWA, led by Walsh Construction, Aecom, URS, Granite Construction; design by Aecom and TEC Management Consultants.
A complete list of consortium member, including their main subcontractors, can be seen here.
LAWA issued a request for qualifications for the project on 9 June and the deadline for responses was 11 August. It is now examining the entries to determine which of the five advance to the request for proposals stage.
The airport says the system will have six stations connecting car rental centre, airport parking and Metro lines and the airline terminals. It will have three stations in the central terminal area, providing fast and easy connections with a pedestrian walkway system.
The main conveyor will be by train, running along a guideway that is about 3km long, and some 30m above the ground.
The performance levels include no more than a three-minute wait at each station, and the winning consortium would have to keep the system in operation 24 hours a day.
The airport says it expects that the system will have nine trains consisting of four cars, each holding about 50 passengers.
Image: The Automated People Mover (LAX)
