{"id":35223,"date":"2026-04-29T16:34:17","date_gmt":"2026-04-29T23:34:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/essential.construction\/news\/1-45b-chicago-airport-project-goes-vertical\/"},"modified":"2026-04-29T16:34:17","modified_gmt":"2026-04-29T23:34:17","slug":"1-45b-chicago-airport-project-goes-vertical","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/essential.construction\/news\/1-45b-chicago-airport-project-goes-vertical\/","title":{"rendered":"$1.45B Chicago airport project goes vertical"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> [ad_1]<br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"text-to-speech\">\n    <button class=\"text-to-speech__button button\"><br \/>\n        <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"text-to-speech__button__icon\" src=\"https:\/\/www.constructiondive.com\/static\/img\/play.svg?313321260226\" alt=\"-\"><br \/>\n        Listen to the article<\/p>\n<p>            <span class=\"text-to-speech__button__audio-length\">3 min<\/span><\/p>\n<p>    <\/button><\/p>\n<div class=\"text-to-speech__controls\">\n        <audio controls=\"\" class=\"js-text-to-speech\" preload=\"none\"><source src=\"https:\/\/text-to-speech.divecdn.com\/newspost\/818876\/2026-04-29_16.37.47\/chicago-airport-project-vertical-milestone-ohare.wav\" type=\"audio\/mp3\"><\/source><\/audio><\/p>\n<div class=\"text-to-speech__controls__text\">\n            This audio is auto-generated. Please let us know if you have <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.constructiondive.com\/contact\/\" target=\"_blank\">feedback<\/a>.\n        <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>Chicago O\u2019Hare International Airport has reached a key construction milestone in its expansion plans.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>A joint venture of AECOM Hunt Clayco Bowa and the Chicago Department of Aviation began vertical construction on the airport\u2019s <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.chicago.gov\/city\/en\/depts\/mayor\/press_room\/press_releases\/2025\/april\/ohare-construction-season.html\" target=\"_blank\"><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span>new 19-gate, 580,000-square-foot Concourse D<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><span><span><span><span><span><span>, according to an April 23 announcement. The construction of the project is valued at $1.45 billion, per the release.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>As part of the work\u2019s scope, the new concourse will add new gates for narrow-body aircraft, or single-aisle aircraft that operate short-haul international flights and domestic flights. The terminal will also have the flexibility to convert 18 of those gates into nine for serving wide-body aircraft. Project plans also include over 20,000 square feet of lounge space, 30,000 square feet of retail and dining space and a 450-square-foot children\u2019s play area, according to the announcement.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>Alongside Indianapolis-based AECOM Hunt, the joint venture includes Chicago-based builders Clayco and Bowa Construction.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>The construction team <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.constructiondive.com\/news\/ohare-terminal-d-construction-start-aecom\/758040\/\" target=\"_blank\"><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span>broke ground on the job in August 2025<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><span><span><span><span><span><span> and has completed approximately 35% of the foundational work, according to the announcement. This includes more than 90% of the caissons, or large, reinforced concrete shafts that are drilled deep into the ground for structural support.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>Over the coming weeks, the team will install a 195-foot-tall tower crane at the center of the airfield to mark the transition to vertical construction of the 73-foot-tall facility.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>Starting this spring, builders will add a central cooling facility that is designed to serve all future developments for the ORDNext project, the <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/ord21.com\/Pages\/ORDNext.aspx\" target=\"_blank\"><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span>largest terminal expansion program in O\u2019Hare\u2019s history<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><span><span><span><span><span><span>. Contractors will also complete critical airfield paving and utility infrastructure, which will support upcoming phases, per the news release.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>Along with Concourse D, ORDNext includes a future Concourse E and a new global terminal that will replace the current Terminal 2, according to the announcement. An $8.5 billion expansion of ORD was <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.constructiondive.com\/news\/chicago-city-council-approves-85b-ohare-expansion\/520331\/\" target=\"_blank\"><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span>approved by the Chicago City Council in 2018<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><span><span><span><span><span><span>.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>The city envisions that construction and infrastructure work on the airport will <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.chicago.gov\/city\/en\/depts\/mayor\/press_room\/press_releases\/2025\/august\/Concourse-D-Groundbreaking.html\" target=\"_blank\"><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span>create more than 3,800 construction jobs<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><span><span><span><span><span><span>, according to the city\u2019s August 2025 groundbreaking news release.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>The Windy City\u2019s infrastructure push extends beyond the airport \u2014 last week, the Chicago Transit Authority and the Walsh-Vinci Transit Community Partners joint venture broke ground on the <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.constructiondive.com\/news\/chicago-red-line-transit-extension-groundbreaking\/818707\/\" target=\"_blank\"><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span>$5.7 billion Red Line Extension<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><span><span><span><span><span><span>. The 5.5-mile-long extension will extend rapid rail transit to the city\u2019s Far South Side for the first time.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>[ad_2]<br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.constructiondive.com\/news\/chicago-airport-project-vertical-milestone-ohare\/818876\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">This article was originally posted at Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>[ad_1] Listen to the article 3 min This audio is auto-generated. Please let us know if you have feedback. Chicago &#8230; <a title=\"$1.45B Chicago airport project goes vertical\" class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/essential.construction\/news\/1-45b-chicago-airport-project-goes-vertical\/\" aria-label=\"Read more about $1.45B Chicago airport project goes vertical\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[457],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-35223","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-construction-dive","generate-columns","tablet-grid-50","mobile-grid-100","grid-parent","grid-33"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/essential.construction\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35223","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/essential.construction\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/essential.construction\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/essential.construction\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/essential.construction\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35223"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/essential.construction\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35223\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/essential.construction\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35223"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/essential.construction\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35223"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/essential.construction\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35223"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}