One of the largest construction projects ever undertaken in Michigan is moving nonstop toward completion.

Few people who have flown in or out of Metropolitan Airport in Romulus would disagree that the current airport complex, with origins in the 1950s, is stretched way beyond its capacity to serve the burgeoning numbers of air traffic and passengers.

The cramped airport has developed a lousy reputation among the air-traveling public, but help is on the way with the ongoing construction of the massive midfield terminal, set for completion late next year.

"The biggest challenge is working between two active runways and coordinating with the control tower," said Charles Prewitt, construction manager for the project's general contractor, Huber, Hunt & Nichols, Inc. "It's difficult some days, but we've been successful. If you look back, you could see areas where we could have speeded things up a little bit, but all in all, we're right where we want to be - right on schedule. The craft workers and subcontractors have been working hard and doing a good job."

Just under 800 building trades workers are on the job, which is on the way to employing about 1,200 by late summer, Prewitt said.

Few jobs in Michigan have ever put so many Hardhats to work in a single place, and there are plenty of other big numbers associated with this project.

• First of all, the price tag: $1.2 billion. The scope of the project includes the 99-gate terminal building; 18 luggage carousels; an 11,000-space parking garage; cargo and maintenance facilities; demolition of old concourses, an energy plant; a three-level roadway system, and 180 acres of apron and taxiways and support facilities. The terminal building will be owned by Wayne County and Northwest Airlines will be the primary tenant.
• Covering two million square feet, Wayne County says functionality and passenger convenience in the terminal complex "are the guiding principles in the design of the project." The new terminal is located southwest of the existing passenger terminal, between runways 3L and 3C.
• Having served more than 34 million passengers in 1999 - three million more than in 1996 - the entire facility needs a better way to move people and vehicles. Motorists on I-275 will be able to enter the airport from the south via Eureka Rd. Inside the airport grounds, a new 11,000-space parking deck will feature overhead trams to transport passengers between gate connections. Moving walkways will also link gates.

An expandable remote boarding area, for commuter and other domestic aircraft, will connect to the main terminal by means of an underground tunnel equipped with a moving walkway.

• More than 500,000 planes take off and land at Metro every year, making the airport the ninth busiest in terms of passengers in North American and the 14th busiest worldwide. Flights currently operate from three north-south runways, two crosswind runways and 103 aircraft gate positions. A fourth parallel runway, which will accommodate simultaneous arrivals and departures, is under construction.
• A year ago this month, in order to limit the disruption of service at the airport, the trades took part in a huge concrete pour over a period of 22 hours, 57 minutes. The trades placed 20,917 cubic yards of concrete to form the foundation of a 950-foot long vehicular tunnel that will extend under two airport runways and several taxiways. According to Wayne County officials, it was the largest continuous concrete pour ever.

"We've had such an aggressive schedule, from the design, to the hiring of the contractors, to the administration of the contracts," said Northwest Airlines Midfield Terminal Director of Construction Charles McCloskey. "It's a challenge out there every day, but we have a good crew of contractors and a good labor force, and we're confident that we will open a great new terminal in December of next year."

ON THEIR WAY to picking up some iron, a headache ball gets the hook from Local 25 iron workers Dan Richards, Brad General and Joe Marinski, working in front of the Midfield Terminal at Metro Airport. The operators are Randy Aratz and Tom Spader of Local 324