MSC Construction

In recent posts I've talked about runways and taxiways, but that's not the only construction that's taking place at LAX right now. In the opening photo, looking over the roof of the TBIT, you can see an empty space just in front of the American maintenance hangar. That is the site of the Midfield Satellite Concourse (MSC) southern extension, or just the MSC South. This project will add an additional eight (8) narrowbody gates to the MSC. What's particularly interesting about this project is that concurrently with the site preparation seen above, the building itself is being constructed at a different site on the northwest corner of the airport. The plan is to move the building in prefab sections to the final location in October, a process that will require shutting down the entire north complex on overnight shifts.

The planned layout of the MSC South, as shown in this rendition that I borrowed from LAWA's website. Here you can see the future eight gates, with room for another one or possibly two gates once the American maintenance hangar goes away.

The site of building construction, looking over the roof of the north end of the TBIT and the RY24 complex. That's an AeroMexico B787 Dreamliner lifting off from RY24L.

This aerial shot that I borrowed from LAWA's website shows the site where the building is being constructed in the upper left, while the actual MSC South location is in the center.

Another view of the MSC South under construction. In the foreground, a SkyWest (flying as Delta Connection) E175 follows a Delta A321neo on Taxiway E

LAWA Press Release

LAWA MSC South 

Yet another construction update

 

I still owe you another construction post, but that is yet to come. Today's post is about where we are right now as September ends and October begins. 

At this point, while we have all four runways back in operation, there is still construction happening that impairs the movement of aircraft. As you can see in the opening diagram, a critical portion of Taxiway E is closed at the east end of the north complex. This closure is necessary to allow completion of the final portion of the new Taxiway S -- the intersection of Taxiway S and Taxiway E. This section of Taxiway E, which is between the intersections of D-8 and D-10, is the primary route for departing aircraft to get to Runway 24 Left. Losing the use of Taxiway E creates a choke point on Taxiway D adjacent to Terminals 2 and 3. While not insurmountable, there are extra complications to the operations in and out of all the north side terminals as well as routing departures to the runway:

• Now that Runway 24 Left is open, A380s are once again coming to the north side for departure. However, neither the A380 nor the B747-8 can use Taxiway D in this area. To get around the closure, these types must enter Ry24L at Taxiway U and taxi east on the runway until they exit at Taxiway R or Taxiway E-7, whereupon they continue via Taxiway E to the end of the runway. Of course, nobody else can land or depart Ry24L while this is happening. This also requires some care on the part of the Ground Controller, as there is very little space on Taxiway E east of Taxiway R, and the A380 or B747-8 will need room on Taxiway E in order to taxi clear of the runway. There is often a good bit of planning and coordination required between the Ground and Tower controllers to make this happen; in many cases the A380 or B747-8 waits while other aircraft go, but at some point the Ground controller may have to hold other aircraft back while the A380/B748 moves.
• As I mentioned, the closed portion of Taxiway E forces all traffic transiting the area to use Taxiway D. Besides the restrictions for A380s and B747-8s, another challenge is that this taxiway is also the space into which aircraft on the gates at the ends of Terminals 2 and 3 have to push. These eight gates are all used by Delta Airlines and occasionally by WestJet. Pushing an aircraft from one of these gates blocks the taxiway until the aircraft is ready to taxi, which is nominally around five minutes or so if there are no snags. Ground controllers are mitigating this somewhat by having the aircraft push over to Terminal One or the TBIT, or around the corner into the adjacent D-9 or D-8 alley. Quite often this also involves holding aircraft on their gate until there is a break in the line of taxiing aircraft, by which time there may be several aircraft that all get pushed at the same time into non-conflicting positions.
• In conjunction with holding aircraft on their gates until there is a convenient time and spot to push them, there is also the consideration that inbound aircraft need to be able to get right onto their gate, as there is no room for them to sit adjacent to their gate if the gate or ground crew are not ready. Thus many of the ground controllers will have inbound aircraft hold away from the terminal area until the pilots have received verification that there is a crew at the gate and it is ready for their arrival.

Last I heard, this closure will run through sometime in November. It would be really nice if we could have the taxiway back before the Thanksgiving holiday travel period, as well as before we have weather that requires us to go East traffic. So far the weather's been cooperating, and I hear LAWA is pleased with the progress that this contractor has been making, so here's hoping!

This shot shows the closed portion of Taxiway E. The Southwest B737 MAX 8 is on RY24L

A wider view of the closure to give some context, with Terminal 2 and the adjacent alleys marked

Here we see an Emirates A380 turning onto RY24L from Taxiway U in order to back-taxi up the runway to get around the construction constriction, while a British Airways A380 is rolling out on Runway 24R

The same Emirates A380 passing the intersection of future Taxiway S

 

Here's a Korean A380 performing the same maneuver

Now past the construction zone, the Korean A380 exits the runway at Taxiway R and rejoins Taxiway E to continue to the end of the runway. The Volaris Airbus has been waiting at the end of the runway, while the WestJet B737 has been waiting on Taxiway D so that there would be room for the A380 to exit onto Taxiway E

A Philippines A330-300 about to touch down on RY24R. We've been seeing Philippines A330s this summer as well as their B777s; they previously had been bringing A350s, but these have been cut as Philippines struggles with finances. This photo is actually more recent than the one that follows; in this shot you can see some of the new concrete for Taxiway E

This year, Hawaiian has started receiving their new 300-seat B787 Dreamliners. For a size comparison, the smaller aircraft is a 76-seat Embraer E-175 operated by SkyWest as Delta Connection. The Embraers have largely replaced the CRJs in the regional fleets at LAX. This photo is early in the Taxiway E closure, as most of the old concrete is still in place.

Catching up on construction, Part 2

 

Welcome to the second part of the northside taxiway construction story. We pick up in February, 2024. Once we made it out of the 2023 holiday season, the project expanded to include work on rebuilding Taxiway E with the intersections for the western exits (V and W). This stage of the project required the closure of the affected portion of Taxiway E, seen in the following photos:

Not really mentioned so far has been the opening of the extended portion of Taxiway D, which now runs all the way west to Taxiway AA. The fresh concrete visible in the second and third photos is the new Taxiway D extension. This gives us another parallel taxiway on the north side all the way to the west end of the airport. Therefore, even with the Taxiway E closure, it is still possible for aircraft to arrive on the 24s and taxi to their gates at Terminals 1, 2, and 3 -- with some exceptions. During the Taxiway E closure, there are restrictions on the size of aircraft that may use the new portion of Taxiway D to protect wingtips and the construction site. As such, B767s and smaller aircraft may use taxiway D adjacent to the construction zone; larger aircraft such as the B747 in the third photo have to taxi over to the south side to get around the restriction.

By the end of February, the Runway 24R/06L phase of the project was completed and the runway reopened. The new taxiways now needed to be continued on across Runway 24L/06R and tied into Taxiway E. In March, Runway 24L/06R closed for both the taxiway construction and runway centerline rehabilitation. The red on this diagram illustrates what was closed at this point:

With RY24L closed, we're now using RY24R for arrivals and departures

Early March progress on the intersection of Taxiway S and RY24L/06R

At the same time, Taxiway U isn't quite so far along

The RY24L centerline rehabilitation project started with the removal of the existing concrete with a really large jackhammer. About to touch down on RY24R is an Air Premia B787-9 Dreamliner arriving from Seoul, South Korea

Another view of the Taxiway E closure after we had some rain

Late March progress on Taxiway S

Pouring concrete for Taxiway S; notice how thick the slabs are!

Progress on Taxiway U at the end of March

New concrete for Taxiway E

The next three photos show the progress on Taxiway S over a week's time in early April:

This is how things looked by the end of April:

 

 

Catching up on construction, Part 1

 

 

Since late last summer, there's been some portion of the north runway complex closed for construction. The opening graphic, courtesy of Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA), shows the scope of the project. There will be four new runway exits, while the existing centerfield exits will be decommissioned. As part of this project, all of the runway entrances/exits will be renamed. The work began with the closure of Runway 24R/06L (the outboard runway) as well as some partial closures of Taxiway E. While the runway was closed for construction of the northern portion of the taxiways, LAWA also took the opportunity to replace some of the runway centerline. The following four photos show early stages of the work in September, 2023:

 

 

Taxiway E closed for construction of the tie-in for future Taxiway U. This is due north of the north end of the TBIT

 

The early stages of future Taxiway S. In the foreground is the D-9 alley, with Terminal 2 in the lower right corner

Another view of the future intersection of Taxiways E & U, taken about a month after the first

Taken about the same time, progress on future Taxiway S

By October, we see the first concrete of Taxiway S

Looking over the top of Terminal 3, we can see the beginnings of Taxiway U

Moving further west reveals early progress on future Taxiways V & W

Another shot of progress on Taxiway S, this time near the end of October

Early November reveals more concrete for Taxiway S

Taxiway U at the end of November

Gratuitous airplane picture. Lufthansa is the only passenger carrier operating both the B747-8 and the A380 at LAX. For a while, Korean also had both, but now we only get their A380s

Early December progress on Taxiway U

Here we see both Taxiways U and S in January, 2024

Mid-January photo of the north side in which all four new taxiways appear

In all of these photos, Runway 24R/06L is closed. This means that RY24L/06R, the inboard runway, is being utilized for both arriving and departing aircraft. For many airports it's everyday practice to use one runway for takeoffs and landings, but LAX typically lands on the outboard runways while departing from the inboards. We do this for for both safety and volume, so when one runway is having to perform double duty we generally will send more departures than usual to the other side of the airport. This post gets us through the middle of January of this year; future posts will continue the saga.