GS&P’s Grant Clifford and Brian McKeehan to Discuss TPA SkyConnect Success
Gresham, Smith and Partners is proud to announce that Senior Vice President Grant Clifford, RIBA, LEED AP, and Senior Civil Engineer Brian McKeehan, P.E., F.ASCE, will participate in a panel discussion at the American Society of Civil Engineer’s (ASCE) Transportation and Development Institute’s International Conference on Automated People Movers and Automated Transit Systems on April 30 in Tampa, Fla. The panel discussion, entitled “Subgrade to Guideway: Infrastructure for the Tampa International Airport SkyConnect,” will focus on design processes for the GS&P-designed SkyConnect automated people mover system at Tampa International Airport. Additionally, as a member of the conference steering committee, McKeehan will moderate the general plenary session, as well as a panel discussion entitled “Airport Automated People Movers”.
Gresham, Smith and Partners is proud to announce that Senior Vice President Grant Clifford, RIBA, LEED AP, and Senior Civil Engineer Brian McKeehan, P.E., F.ASCE, will participate in a panel discussion at the American Society of Civil Engineer’s (ASCE) Transportation and Development Institute’s International Conference on Automated People Movers and Automated Transit Systems on April 30 in Tampa, Fla. The panel discussion, entitled “Subgrade to Guideway: Infrastructure for the Tampa International Airport SkyConnect,” will focus on design processes for the GS&P-designed SkyConnect automated people mover system at Tampa International Airport. Additionally, as a member of the conference steering committee, McKeehan will moderate the general plenary session, as well as a panel discussion entitled “Airport Automated People Movers”.
“As global airline passenger traffic continues to increase, airport planners and designers must meet the demand by implementing technologies, such as automated people movers, that are more efficient and help decongest terminal roadways,” commented Clifford. “The SkyConnect Automated People Mover at Tampa International Airport was a challenging project and we are looking forward sharing our experience, as well as the benefits of automated transit at airports, with our peers at this year’s International Conference on Automated People Movers and Automated Transit Systems.”
A summary of the panel discussion follows.
Subgrade to Guideway: Infrastructure for the Tampa International Airport SkyConnect
Panel Discussion by Brian McKeehan, P.E., F.ASCE, Grant Clifford, RIBA, LEED AP, Sambit Bhattacharjee, P.E., LEED AP, Greg Kieninger, P.E., and Richard Temple, P.E.
Completed in February 2018, the GS&P-designed SkyConnect Automated People Mover at Tampa International Airport (TPA) consists of 1.4-miles of guideway, connecting the main terminal to the brand-new, 2.6-million-square-foot Rental Car Center, as well as the GS&P-Designed economy parking garage. The project was a critical part of the overall modernization at TPA, serving as the cornerstone of the airport’s master plan improvements. The new system improves the passenger experience, minimizing the time it takes to get from the rental car center to the main terminal. Additionally, the automated system eases traffic congestion and reduces carbon emissions and is projected to reduce vehicle miles traveled on the airport’s roadways by 2.7 million per year and reduce annual carbon emissions by 1,600 tons. During this panel discussion, members of the project team will discuss the SkyConnect design process, focusing on the initial design criteria, the final station design, the project’s structural challenges and the system’s power source.