The Massachusetts Port Authority (Massport) was recently honored by the Construction Management Association of America (CMAA) with two prestigious awards for projects at Logan International Airport. The New England Region Chapter of CMAA presented Massport with the 2003 Public Project of the Year Award (with a construction value of $50-100 million) for the elevated walkways from Terminals B and C, and the 2003 Public Project of the Year Award (with a construction value of greater than $100 million) for the 100% baggage screening program.

The 100% baggage screening program included the construction of an in-line detection system in 12 bag handling rooms with 38 explosive detection machines and almost 3 miles of new baggage conveyor belts in just six months. Logan became the first major airport to have a permanent 100% in-line bag screening plan approved by the TSA in June 2002. Following the approval, the Massport team and crews worked seven-days-a-week to build the infrastructure required for the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) to meets its Congressionally-mandated December 31, 2002 deadline for 100% bag screening.

More than 700 workers a day, laboring three shifts a day, completed approximately $146 million worth of construction and installation in less than six months. These men and women from 40 different states and representing almost 20 different unions completed a task that typically would have taken two years.

The walkways connect Central Parking at Logan International Airport with both sides of Terminal B and the ticketing hall of Terminal C. These elevated, enclosed, climate-controlled pedestrian bridges extend the terminal atmosphere out to the garage. They are also equipped with moving sidewalks making it even easier for passengers to connect between the terminals and the garage.

The walkways project presented a number of operational challenges and required extensive coordination with Logan tenants and airlines to ensure that operational and traffic impacts were kept to a minimum. With the completion of the walkways, all of Logan's terminals are connected via elevated walkway to the Central Parking facility.

These awards recognize the excellent work of the many Massport departments, construction managers, designers, and contractors who worked on these challenging projects. The two awards place Massport in the running for CMAA national recognition.

Massport's efforts to enhance safety and complete the hold baggage screening program at Logan were recently lauded by Secretary of Homeland Security Tom Ridge who recognized the Authority for being a leader in aviation security.

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