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.