West Apron Tunnel

Constructing a massive 846-foot-long tunnel across the West Apron of the Salt Lake International Airport required a lot more from our firm than just innovative thinking and long hours in the trenches.

The tunnel required more than 150,000 cubic yards of excavation, 16,000 cubic yards of concrete, and nearly three million pounds of reinforcing steel. Not only that, but because the project is located in proximity to the Great Salt Lake, most of the tunnel sat below the water table and required the installation of 20 three-inch electrical pumps to dewater the excavation. Our unique system pumped out nearly 480,000 gallons of water per day. Once completed, the tunnel was waterproofed against future leakage, and backfilled with 200,000 tons of backfill material.

In addition to the tunnel, the project included more than 71,000 square yards of Econocrete, and 70,000 square yards 16-inch thick Portland Cement Concrete Pavement (PCCP), which we placed using a 2600 Gomaco slip-form paver. In order to produce the nearly 64,000 yards of concrete required for the tunnel and the paving, a concrete batch plant was set up on the airport property to service the project. On the total 64,000 yards of concrete batched, less than eight cubic yards was rejected.

Wadsworth Brothers completed the $20 million contract with the Salt Lake Airport Authority on time and on budget.

Client

Salt Lake Airport

Completion Date

November 1994

LOCATION

SLC Airport

Awards

2007 – Excellence in Concrete-Transportation
ACI Intermountain-American Concrete Institute