All language subtitles for NOVA S52E02 Extreme Airport Engineering 1080p WEB h264-BAE_track3_[eng]

♪ ♪

NARRATOR:
In New York City,

designers, engineers,

and construction workers...

DAN MURPHY:
Watch the boom!

NARRATOR:
...are on a once-in-a-lifetime
mission

to build
an extraordinary airport.

TONY VERO:
We didn't realize

the magnitude of what we were
going to be up against.

NARRATOR:
The city's new LaGuardia Airport

has a budget
of more than $8 billion

and will be America's first new
airport in more than 25 years.

RICK COTTON:
The United States

has fallen way behind
in terms of infrastructure.

CARMELA CINICOLO
A new LaGuardia is something

that we always knew we needed.

NARRATOR:
While planes continue to fly,

7,000 workers must completely
rebuild the old airport here,

to create a brand-new
fully connected facility

that can handle more than 34
million passengers every year.

RYAN MARZULLO:
This is such a massive program,

how are we going
to pull this off?

JESSICA FORSE:
It's a 24/7 operation,

all hands on deck.

NARRATOR:
To meet this enormous
engineering challenge,

the team will battle
extreme weather...

KEVIN GILLEN:
Probably the worst storm
we've seen in five years.

ANA TIMOVA:
Being out on the steel
while it's wet?

Very dangerous.

NARRATOR:
...and control massive machines.

CINICOLO:
One wrong move,

we could strike a building.

NARRATOR:
Can they complete
one of New York's

largest infrastructure projects
in a generation,

while keeping
all the planes moving?

The likelihood
of the entire thing

falling out of balance
is very, very real.

NARRATOR:
The exclusive inside story

of "Extreme
Airport Engineering."

Right now, on "NOVA."

♪ ♪

NARRATOR:
New York, the city
that never sleeps.

More than 120 million people

fly in and out of the Big Apple
each year.

GINNY ELLIOTT:
Airline travel is in high
demand,

particularly in New York.

MAN (whistles):
Taxi!

NARRATOR:
In a city that seems
in a perpetual hurry,

commuters expect fast,
efficient transportation.

CINICOLO:
We're New York, we have to have

the best of the best--
we should be leaders.

NARRATOR:
So, this team of architects
and engineers

has designed America's
first new airport

in a quarter of a century.

MARZULLO:
Well, this is
once-in-a-generation,

once-in-a-lifetime,

once-in-a-career
type of experience

that we're about to embark on.

♪ ♪

NARRATOR:
In 2016, New York's
LaGuardia Airport,

which sits to the east
of Manhattan,

is handling around 550,000
passengers each week.

But by 2030,

it's expected to need capacity
for almost 20% more.

So, the plan is to demolish
the separate terminals

and rebuild them, connected,

600 feet back,
towards the edge of the site.

Twin pedestrian bridges

will lead passengers
to their gates.

40 acres of recovered space

will enable
new two-lane taxiways

that let planes
circulate freely.

It'll take 72,000 tons of steel

and almost
600,000 tons of concrete.

But LaGuardia's new terminals

will finally be fully unified,

an airport fit
for 21st-century travel.

Work on the new airport

begins in June 2016,

at this special
groundbreaking ceremony.

This transformation can't come
too soon for commuters here.

This is my first trip
to LaGuardia

and probably my last.

I don't want to come back.

NARRATOR:
The old airport is run down
and overcrowded.

So now there are
two separate teams

designing and building
the airport,

one for the new Terminal B

and one for the new Terminal C,

while the historic Art Deco
Marine Air Terminal A--

built in the 1930s--
will be preserved

to safeguard its unique
architectural features.

The two terminal teams
face a monumental challenge--

the size and shape of the site.

For a major airport,

LaGuardia is small,
and it can't get bigger.

It's hemmed in
by water on one side

and highways on the other.

There's no space to expand.

And to make their task
even more difficult,

the team must keep the airport
fully operational

throughout construction--

flights cannot be shut down.

DEREK THIELMANN:
Closing the airport
just isn't an option.

We have to find a way to

maintain the existing operation
and build, build new.

NARRATOR:
As the team transforms
the old airport,

they must keep at least
66 gates operational.

At Terminal B,

first they're building
a new concourse

with 18 new gates,

and demolishing
half of the old gates.

Then they'll repeat that
on the other side:

build and demolish.

At Terminal C,

first they're building
a completely new concourse

on the water's edge
with seven new gates.

Then they'll build and demolish
the rest in stages.

♪ ♪

It's an ambitious
nine-year plan,

and they must keep the airport
open for business

while they work.

COTTON:
All of LaGuardia would fit

into Central Park
with 150 acres to spare.

The construction project
at LaGuardia is a ballet

on a postage stamp.

There's simply no room.

NARRATOR:
The lack of space

and complex logistics

force architects to design
an innovative new layout

for the new Terminal B.

♪ ♪

PETER RUGGIERO: As commercial
air travel grew and expanded,

the idea was, don't keep

making it longer and linear,

but simply start to fold it
to create fingers.

The original plan for LaGuardia

was a classic example
of the finger design.

NARRATOR:
During the 1960s,

as more people flew,

aircraft grew in size
to hold more passengers.

But bigger airplanes
mean that fewer can park

around the finger-shaped
concourses.

The inefficiency of the finger

is found in
these inside corners.

NARRATOR:
Large aircraft can't
easily maneuver

in and out of
these tight corners.

So, LaGuardia's new Terminal B

will have a radically
different shape.

It will use a satellite design.

RUGGIERO: On a freestanding
satellite concourse,

you can even park
on the corners.

The airlines and
the airport operators

found great efficiencies
in this design.

NARRATOR:
The new design transforms

the four fingers
of the old Terminal B

into two freestanding
satellite concourses.

Aircraft can park
all around the perimeter,

with many different routes
leading to the runway,

reducing time on the tarmac.

Getting passengers from
the new main terminal building

to the concourses
is more complex.

They could dig tunnels
under the taxiways,

but this would likely take years

and add millions of dollars
to the project.

The design team's
audacious solution:

two vast pedestrian bridges,

so high above the tarmac

that all aircraft here
can pass beneath.

♪ ♪

First task--

before engineers can build
the pedestrian bridges,

they must construct
the 850,000-square-foot

main terminal building

and two satellite
gate concourses

that the bridges will
connect to.

CINICOLO:
It may look crazy, but it's
really a managed crazy.

That is the only way
to a successful program

and achieving these milestones.

♪ ♪

NARRATOR:
Constructing LaGuardia's
Terminal B

on time and on budget

is up to a team of engineers

led by Carmela Cinicolo.

What's the completion date?

MAN:
By the middle of
next year.

Okay.

NARRATOR:
Carmela and her team

manage 30 different contractors
and a $4 billion budget.

CINICOLO:
In construction, it's dynamic.

It's constantly changing--
day in, day out,

there's a new issue
that arises

while we close out
a prior issue.

♪ ♪

NARRATOR:
Working with Carmela
to deliver the new Terminal B

is Jessica Forse.

Today, Jessica checks on

construction progress
for the main terminal building.

It's a 24/7 operation,
all hands on deck.

NARRATOR:
It takes almost four years
of intensive work

to build up the enormous
steel structure

of the four-story terminal.

FORSE:
Ultimately, what will be
the most amazing

about this area is really
going to be the vistas, right?

The, the glass wall and the, and
the view upon the airfield,

and really just taking it to
a whole new level-- the light

and the, the experience
for people

that, that, to see the airfield
through this

kind of really very grand space.

We are probably just peaking out
with overall volume of workers

that we have in this location.

There's tons of activity.

NARRATOR:
With the main terminal building

and two satellite concourses
taking shape,

the team must connect them.

Building Terminal B's
two vast pedestrian bridges

could be
their toughest challenge.

CINICOLO:
The erecting of steel is
to take place right now.

We're at that point
in the schedule.

♪ ♪

NARRATOR:
The team will use
two different techniques

to construct each bridge.

The eastern bridge will be
built out onto shoring towers,

one piece of steel at a time,

to meet in the middle,
65 feet above the ground.

But the western bridge
will be constructed differently.

They will build it
in six massive sections

on the ground
from 2,500 tons of steel,

then lift these vast trusses
into place

on top of the shoring towers.

The final two sections must fit
with millimeter accuracy

to complete
the nearly 500-foot span.

Only then can the team
remove the supports

and clad the bridge.

MURPHY:
The size of everything
we're using is much bigger.

The steel is much bigger,

the equipment is much bigger--
it can be nerve-racking.

I have-- I will admit,
I've lost sleep on this project.

NARRATOR:
Today, superintendent Dan Murphy
must install

the biggest truss
on the entire airport build.

MURPHY:
This is the heaviest pick

on the project, all right?

And there is no other gang
I want doing this

than your gang, obviously.

NARRATOR:
This is a critical job for Dan
and his team of ironworkers.

They all need to bring
their A game.

So, we pick this thing up,
and if it is

too out of whack vertically,

we're going to talk
about what we need to do

in order to put this thing
back down safely.

Hopefully, that's not the case,

hopefully, it's on the money,
but

we've, we've been wrong before.

♪ ♪

CINICOLO:
It all looks positive to go.

We're all excited.

It's the next phase
of the construction,

and all the stakeholders
are here to witness it.

It's one exciting time.

(horn blaring)

♪ ♪

NARRATOR:
The crane driver gently hoists
the top of the 200-ton truss,

gradually standing it up.

RAFIK MOAWAD:
When you're tipping
the big truss like this,

it's also, is very important
to make sure, you know,

you got to tip it right
and get it straight.

MAN:
Easy, baby, easy, easy!

(machinery whirring)

Easy!

(murmuring)

Nice, nicely done!

NARRATOR:
The first pedestrian bridge
truss is upright.

Nicely done.

NARRATOR:
And ready to lift into position.

But as the crane raises it
off the ground

for the first time,
there's a problem.

MAN:
We're way out, huh?

Jesus.

NARRATOR:
The truss is now dangerously
uneven.

It's higher by five-and-a-half
feet at one end.

The load is unbalanced.

Try to lift it now,

and the rigging bolts
could snap,

causing the truss to fall.

CINICOLO:
When working with these
large pieces of steel,

there is really
no margin of error.

NARRATOR:
The team carefully lowers
the truss

back down horizontally

and races to adjust the lengths
of the crane-rigging cables.

CINICOLO:
It's a balancing act.

There's risk factors there,
so we have to make sure

that the steel
is perfectly balanced

so that our crane operator
has the level of comfort

to raise it
into its proper position.

♪ ♪

NARRATOR:
With the rigging reset,

the team attempts to lift again.

(metal creaking)

MAN:
Up we go.

NARRATOR:
The crane raises the truss
upright once more.

♪ ♪

MAN:
Easy, easy, easy.

NARRATOR:
It's the moment of truth,

as the truss rises off
its blocks.

MURPHY:
Now let's see how bad it is.

It was six feet out before.

That's good, that's good.

NARRATOR:
They've done it.

MURPHY:
That's beautiful.

NARRATOR:
The truss hangs
straight and true,

parallel to the ground.

That's better than third time's
the charm, right?
(laughs)

NARRATOR:
The team uses two taglines
to control the truss

as the crane swings it around
towards the shoring towers.

♪ ♪

The 115-foot-long truss

rises 70 feet into the air.

♪ ♪

Now these high-walking
ironworkers

must guide the steel
into its proper location.

MOAWAD:
The issue here is
how we can align

the three pieces
and the three connection

in the same elevation
and the same time.

♪ ♪

Right now, we have two crew,
one working this side

and one working this side,
and they'll try to align it.

NARRATOR:
It takes over an hour

to wrestle the 200 tons of steel
into place

and bolt the three connection
points together.

The first of six massive trusses

is in position.

♪ ♪

Now we can breathe--
now we can breathe.

♪ ♪

NARRATOR:
This pioneering bridge
begins to take shape

high above the airfield below.

To the far east of the site,
LaGuardia's Terminal C

sits on a narrower and more
compact parcel of land.

This creates a different
set of challenges

for the team tasked with

constructing
the new airport buildings here.

The Terminal C design

will look radically different
than Terminal B.

Project manager Manny Incorvaia

leads the hundred-strong
Terminal C design team.

INCORVAIA (chuckling):
There's no more land.

We're just constrained
everywhere.

There's no,
you can't build in the water,

environmental nightmares.

There's just no space.

We are penned in by the water
on the north side

and the Grand Central Parkway
on the south.

NARRATOR:
To make the best use
of the limited space,

the team must push
Terminal C back

to the eastern corner
of the site.

They'll build three long
finger concourses

and one extra finger,
Concourse G,

on the edge of the bay.

This way, they'll have
the 37 gates they need,

and enough space
for two-lane taxiways.

And that's one
of the primary goals,

is to put in dual taxi lanes,

get them flexibility
as much as possible

at each gate.

INCORVAIA:
I think it'll be
a complete transformation.

Everything will be different.

There's nothing
that's going to be the same.

It's going to be all brand-new,
it'll be awesome.

You see that?
Now, now you notice it.
Yes.

NARRATOR:
Program director Ryan Marzullo
is tasked

with keeping the construction
of this vast terminal--

that has many moving parts--
on track.

New York needs a proper front
door,

front entrance, and a gateway

to the greatest city in the
world.

being a joke
to being a shining example.

NARRATOR:
On the southeast side
of the site,

Ryan's team faces a particularly
complex engineering challenge,

to build Terminal C's
Grand Entrance.

MARZULLO:
We'll peak out at about
1,300 men and women

on site building
this new terminal.

The amount of work going on
on a daily basis

is absolutely phenomenal.

NARRATOR:
This will be Delta Airlines'
gateway to the new airport.

This façade will welcome

almost 14 million passengers
a year

and lead them into
a light-filled departures hall.

First impressions here count.

New Yorkers are very demanding
and very opinionated,

and we designed our facility
around that.

NARRATOR:
The grand entrance
to Terminal C

is designed to be
both spectacular

and to improve passenger flow.

A smaller curbside building
will provide express bag drop

and direct access to security
in the main terminal

via a footbridge.

Engineers could build
a vast roof over the forecourt,

but that would block light.

So, architects proposed
a 15,000-square-foot opening

called an oculus

to flood the entrance
with light.

It's an ambitious design

that will present
a particularly tough challenge

to Ryan
and the construction team.

MAN::
Come down a little bit more!

NARRATOR:
The oculus is built

from almost 400 pieces
of interlocking steel.

The truss that sits
across the forecourt roadways

at the east end of the oculus

weighs 80 tons.

This will be the biggest lift
on the Terminal C project.

♪ ♪

Raising the truss in one piece,

rather than in smaller sections,

will save time.

Terminal C's
complex phasing plan

hinges on Ryan's team
installing this truss

before the roadways
to the terminal can be built.

MARZULLO:
We need to get
this piece of steel,

this massive piece of steel,

this roof truss,
up in the air

to allow the roadways
to continue.

So critical day, critical moment
in the project,

and it allows us to keep moving,

because this is
on the critical path.

DAVE WHITEHOUSE:
We're gonna make
one critical pick,

pick it up, put it into place,
slowly walk it in.

The whole thing should take six
hours,

so it's a, it's a little
stressful.

♪ ♪

NARRATOR:
Dave Whitehouse
is under pressure

to complete this lift
earlier than planned

to avoid a storm
that's moving in.

Trying to lift during a storm

could be deadly
for the ironworkers.

Being out on this steel
while it's wet, very dangerous.

You can't weld in the rain,
because you get electrocuted.

Uh, so weather is definitely
a big factor.

NARRATOR:
And it's not just rain
that's a concern.

Wind gusts could make the truss
impossible to control.

TIMOVA:
After certain mile-per-hour
winds,

the crane has to get shut down,
because it's way too dangerous

to have any pieces in the air.

NARRATOR:
Dave's team feels
the time pressure

as they prepare the oculus steel
for liftoff.

WHITEHOUSE:
The ironworkers
are working really hard.

They're working ten-hour days.

Everybody's trying
to get this ready.

Time is everything.

NARRATOR:
Terminal C's designers
are making the best use

of the limited space available.

But there's a particular problem

with the location
of this terminal building.

Its position on the bay

makes the terminal
extremely vulnerable

to storms and flooding.

We're on a body of water.

So, what kind of flood designs
do we need to take into account?

NARRATOR:
Severe floods have devastated
LaGuardia Airport in the past.

In 2012, Superstorm Sandy
smashed the East Coast

and plunged the airport
into chaos.

GARY FRATTALI:
The wind blew the water
and the storm surge

over the embankment,

and that, we just became
inundated with that.

When that happened,

this entire area was flooded.

NARRATOR:
An estimated 100 million
gallons of water

swept over the airport's
storm wall.

Terminal C's network
of concrete storm drains

and its main pumphouse
were completely overwhelmed.

♪ ♪

The flood shut down the airport
for three days.

A quarter of a million
passengers

had their flights canceled,

costing the airport over
$1.1 million in lost revenue.

♪ ♪

Today, the design team must
ensure that the new Terminal C

can withstand anything
Mother Nature throws at it.

INCORVAIA:
The structural design
will have to account

for this flood-event wave action

that can come
and hit the building.

We don't want the building
floating away.

NARRATOR:
Concourse G will sit
right on the water's edge,

directly in harm's way.

The team must raise it up
20 feet

onto concrete columns
to allow any floodwater

to pass harmlessly underneath.

MARCO CIPOLLETTI:
When you are talking
about Concourse G,

that's definitely going to be
a structural challenge.

The bottom floor
cannot be occupied,

and so we will have
to design the structure

to basically sit on columns
and exposed,

so that will be,
need to be designed

for a possible flood event.

NARRATOR:
It takes 26 months to build

the new 1,000-foot-long
and 77-foot-tall Concourse G.

♪ ♪

Its glass walls give commuters
a unique view of the bay,

while its raised ground floor
should prevent a storm

from triggering
a catastrophic inundation.

The team is engineering
additional

innovative features underground

to prevent a superstorm
from overwhelming Terminal C.

They are constructing
a brand-new

five-mile-long storm drain
network beneath the airport

that should make it
more resilient to flooding.

FRATTALI:
What we're doing today is
inspecting

the drainage lines just to make
sure that there's no debris,

they didn't leave any sandbags
during the construction effort.

Because it's plastic,
but it's corrugated

to give it the same strength
as the old concrete.

I don't know about
the durability of it yet,

but we're going
to find that out.

♪ ♪

NARRATOR:
Engineers run checks
through the network

to ensure it remains free
of any blockages or debris.

VITO LOGIUDICE:
I'm a little claustrophobic,

but I'd rather be there

than up high.

You know... (laughs)

I put a lot of trust into,
to the guys I work with.

They can always pull me out
if something ever happens.

So that's good.
(chuckles)

I have been down
where Vito is before.

I'd rather be up here now.
(laughs)

Getting a little too old
for that.

♪ ♪

NARRATOR:
The team lowers
a special camera,

known as the sea snake,
into the storm drain.

FRATTALI:
That's tethered to a monitor.

I'm watching for the shape
of the pipe.

It, it should be completely
round.

I want to make sure that the
ceiling has not collapsed down,

where it makes the pipe oblong.

You can see that there's no, um,
obstructions in the line.

NARRATOR:
The sea snake has already
helped the team locate

some major issues
in the new pipes.

FRATTALI:
We have found
two-by-six planks of wood,

collapsed pipes,
several sandbags,

concrete that wasn't removed.

The sandbags would have
stopped flow completely.

NARRATOR:
The pipes should be clear,

but today, the sea snake
has found a blockage.

FRATTALI:
The camera was underwater,

so we couldn't see what it was,

but we pushed whatever it was
into the manhole,

because when we pulled
the camera back out,

the water was gone.

So we cleared the line.

So I don't know what it was,
but it worked.

(laughs)

NARRATOR:
The team can come up for air.

They've checked almost 800 feet
of pipe today.

Just another 26,000 to go.

Today is a critical day
for Terminal C's ironworkers.

They will lift and install
the massive truss

that forms part of the oculus

for the main terminal's
grand entrance.

WHITEHOUSE:
This is like a big high-profile
milestone for the project.

So last night,

my wife put the plate of food
in front of my face,

and I just, just played with it
a little bit.

I was a little stressed out,
slept for about two hours.

NARRATOR:
Moving the schedule earlier

to avoid the impending storm
has paid off.

Conditions right now
are close to perfect.

JARED KRAUSE:
Slight breeze,

but beautiful day
to do this type of operation.

NARRATOR:
Even so,

lifting an 80-ton truss up
100 feet into the air

is not easy.

This job falls to crane operator
Matt Hayes.

HAYES:
The biggest challenge

is moving the crane, and the
piece is going to be moving.

So, it's swinging back
and forth, it could possibly

hit the boom if it got out of
control, which could actually

collapse the boom, which would
be a major problem.

♪ ♪

NARRATOR:
But lifting the truss isn't the
only challenge the team faces.

They must also bolt it
into place at roof level.

The roof of the grand entrance
is not yet reinforced.

A hole allows workers access
to connect the truss.

Only once the truss is
in position

can they reinforce
the entrance structure

to take the full 80 tons.

The crane will hold the truss
steady

as ironworkers race to bolt

12 extra steel beams
into position.

Nice and easy, all right?

(workers shouting)

NARRATOR:
With the team assembled

and the truss hooked up
to the crane...

(horn honking)

...the biggest lift on
the Terminal C project begins.

The only thing that's left is
really

for the crane operator to do
his magic.

NARRATOR:
The 100-foot-long
steel monster ascends.

MAN:
Keep pulling on it,
keep pulling on it!

♪ ♪

NARRATOR:
It takes a nerve-shredding
30 minutes

for the team to hoist the truss
100 feet

into the air.

Now the ironworkers must bolt it
into place.

TIMOVA:
My job is to make sure that it's

safely guided into the point
that it has to connect to.

And I am securing it
once it is in place.

NARRATOR:
One of more than 20 ironworkers

connecting the gigantic
steel truss is Ana Timova.

TIMOVA:
I was a barber before this,

and when I first heard about
ironwork, I was, like,

I don't want to go out
on a dirty construction site,

wear a hard hat,
and be outside in the cold.

Now I, I love it.

Your first time up on the steel

with, you know,
nothing underneath you

and about five inches
to walk on, it's awesome.

I love the history, you know?

Here at New York,

we had the, you know,
the Flatiron Building.

We have
the Empire State Building,

the Brooklyn Bridge.

That's all built by ironworkers,

and it's an amazing history.

NARRATOR:
New York ironworkers have shaped

and reshaped the city's famous
skyline over the decades.

They honed their daredevil
sky-walking skills

during the boom
in skyscraper construction

in the early 20th century.

TIMOVA:
Just to know
that I'm part of that history,

it's an amazing feeling,
it really is.

WHITEHOUSE:
You couldn't pay me enough
to do what these guys do.

These guys, I think,
would do it for free,

and I wouldn't do it for
all the money in the world.
(laughs)

MAN:
All right,
should be good there.

NARRATOR:
Ana and the ironworkers
must guide the oculus truss

so it slots
into three connection points

on the main terminal building.

Five inches!

(metal connects)

NARRATOR:
Touchdown!

The truss finally soars
over the grand entrance.

Seeing that big 160,000 pounds
of steel

go up
is pretty amazing.

NARRATOR:
But just a single slender beam

takes the enormous weight
of the frame.

The team must now work quickly

to bolt the reinforcing
steel beams into position.

KEN CHASE:
We have to install
the rest of the steel,

and that is the more support
and more strength.

races to deliver bolts
to his crew.

MAN:
What do you need?

MAN 2:
I need shorties.

(man exhales)

MAN 1:
How many do you want? Right on.

You want those bolts in there,
too?

Communication is essential--
essential.

(clanging loudly)

There's so much banging around,
you start to lose your hearing.

(clanging loudly)

I have!
(laughs)

Started to lose it, that is.

Hearing, that is.
(chuckles)

(clanging loudly)

NARRATOR:
The first bolts
for the reinforcing steel

are now in.

But every minute
the truss hangs in the air

is another minute of danger.

CHASE:
Many things could go wrong.

We could have rigging failure,
for one thing.

That's just a cataclysmic event.

A lot of people that can
be potentially...

Killed, you know?
Plain and simple, yeah.

NARRATOR:
Ken's team can't make
any mistakes

as the oculus truss
hangs in the balance.

TIMOVA:
And it has to be done quickly,

especially because the piece
is in the hook already.

So they can't just say, "Okay,
guys, hold on, let's put it down

while they fix it up there."

♪ ♪

NARRATOR:
They must work quickly

to position
all 12 reinforcement beams.

Now the oculus is in place,
it's sitting down,

they're going
to make the connections.

NARRATOR:
To connect the truss
to the main terminal building,

ironworkers must now install
200-pound

steel keeper plates.

This calls
for some serious muscle.

TIMOVA:
Even the strongest guy

is not going to lift one of
these plates up by themselves

and move it,
so we set up a come-along

to move the plate over
and slide it so that the piece

can fit into its little pocket.

NARRATOR:
This ratchet,

known as a come-along, helps
force the plate into position.

CHASE:
We have to finagle it,
as they say.

It's almost like,
you got to just,

like, squeeze it in, you know?

TIMOVA:
Now it's just making sure

that the plate fits properly,
all the holes line up.

Some people are,
like, "Oh, you just go,

you stick a bolt in a hole,
and that's it."

It's not, it's, like, a lot
of science that goes into it.

There's a proper size bolt
that has to be in there.

There's a certain amount

of threads that have to show
or can't show.

There's a proper tension

that each bolt has to have.

NARRATOR:
As Ana and the team
thread the final bolts

through their holes,

Dave can start to relax.

WHITEHOUSE (chuckling):
I was worried about it

all night last night,
didn't eat too much.

But everything went great.

I feel like I'm hungry.

(laughs):
I'm, it's time to eat.

But everything went great.

♪ ♪

NARRATOR:
The eastern truss is secure,

and the crane can release
the full 80-ton load.

WHITEHOUSE:
The oculus is up,

nice and tight,
everything's good.

NARRATOR:
The grand entrance
is taking shape.

Now work on the next phase
of construction--

the arrivals and departures
roadways--

can begin below.

TIMOVA:
When you're part
of a big project like this,

it's something that for years,

you're going to be able
to see it.

Or if somebody ever says, "Hey,
I'm flying out of LaGuardia,"

like, "What terminal?
Oh, I built that."

You know? Like, it's,
it's an awesome feeling.

NARRATOR:
In just 30 days,

the western oculus truss
is in place.

The construction team
has realized the vision

for the entrance to Terminal C.

♪ ♪

As old buildings are demolished,
and new ones built,

the layout of the airport
evolves constantly,

changing over a hundred times
since work first began.

Every chance we get to capture
some real estate and build,

that's what we do,

keeping the facilities
operational,

keeping the aircraft moving,
keeping the people moving,

keeping the cars on the roadways
moving.

Been a very complex puzzle

that we've had to solve.

So what we do here is,

we build something new,
and then we tear down the old,

and then we build something new,
and then tear down the old.

NARRATOR:
The challenge
of keeping passengers

and planes moving here

is made even tougher
by the extreme weather

that strikes
this exposed airport.

GILLEN:
We live and die by the forecast.

Three days ago,
the, it was looking only like

an inch or two of snow, and now
we're looking at over a foot.

NARRATOR:
Tonight, the airport's
chief of operations,

Kevin Gillen, and his team
are gearing up to battle

their biggest snowstorm
in five years.

GILLEN:
We're expecting,

like, serious blizzard-like
conditions,

heavy winds, heavy snow.

NARRATOR:
With construction activity

at full speed,
the arctic conditions

slow down building work

and bring air traffic
to a standstill,

grounding almost 200 flights.

This is the team's
worst nightmare.

It's up to Kevin and his crew

to get the airport back up
and running

as soon as possible.

All right, good morning,
everyone.

I'm sure everyone knows

we're in snow condition five.

DIONNE SYPIOE:
Snow has always been
equivalent of work for me.

So, no, I don't, I don't
necessarily get a joyous feeling

when I see snow in the forecast.
(laughs)

We're going to get
a lot of blowing snow.

We're talking about
15 to 25 miles per hour

with gusts of
40 to 50 miles per hour.

NARRATOR:
Dionne Sypioe
will coordinate the mission

to clear the runway with Kevin.

She is in charge
of 20 operations supervisors

and 30 plow drivers.

(engine running)

NARRATOR:
Dionne dispatches
four multifunctional snow plows

to the runways.

Construction constantly changes
the boundaries

of the taxi lanes,

potentially placing new fences
and machinery

in the path of the plows.

GILLEN:
The airfield itself
has changed dramatically

in the past 12 months,
so now the drivers

find themselves in places
when there's whiteout conditions

that they're not used to being.

NARRATOR:
Extreme weather
is an ever-changing challenge

for operations teams
at airports like LaGuardia.

New York can be hit
by brutal winter storms

and sweltering
summer heat waves.

ELLIOTT:
New York has four seasons,
supposedly.

You just don't know when, when
that season is going to occur.

NARRATOR:
For New York's
new LaGuardia Airport,

a fail-safe way to both heat
and cool the hub

is crucial to keep planes
and passengers moving.

COTTON:
Future-proofing a facility
has to be

a central guideline
in terms of how you build it.

NARRATOR:
So the airport's new Terminal C

features an innovative
engineering solution.

An electrical substation
built into the airport terminal

generates enough power
for around 8,000 homes.

It also packs in
six enormous boilers

to heat the interior spaces
in winter.

And to cool the terminal
in New York's scorching summers,

there are five high-powered
chillers

and 65 huge ice storage tanks.

Heating and cooling the old
building was

like trying to heat and cool
your house

with the windows open and the
stove on.

The new system
is groundbreaking.

Temperature sensors
give engineers

Robert Rovelli and Mike Alfano

real-time information
throughout the new terminal.

ROVELLI:
If one area is hot

within a 50-foot area,
we can literally

see that on our computer screens

and adjust just that area.

NARRATOR:
Today, the system
will be pushed to the limit.

A state of emergency
has been declared.

The snowstorm has
caused temperatures

inside the terminal to plummet.

We got some cold temperatures
on the connecting bridges, wow.

It's cold.

Let's ramp that up.

NARRATOR:
Mike heads over

to check on the six
vast boilers.

ALFANO:
Today is brutally cold
out there.

(wind whipping)

The wind is howling,
so that is the challenge

of the day, is making sure
the boilers stay online

and we keep the place warm.

These parti...
(alarm beeping)

Ah, we just had a failure!

NARRATOR:
The primary boiler has failed.

Outside air
feeds the boiler flame,

but the savage storm winds
are forcing too much air in

through the vents,
blowing out the pilot flame.

I need to get a boiler up online
A.S.A.P.

(alarm beeping)

NARRATOR:
They must urgently get heat
back into the system.

ALFANO:
If I can't get another boiler
to come on,

my hot water temperature
is going to start dropping,

and that's where stress
will start to come in.

(alarm beeping softly)
Trying to fire up.

And we were lucky.

(alarm beeping loudly)
No, we lost it!

NARRATOR:
The heat is on Mike.

I'm going to make sure
that this boiler runs

at a higher firing rate,
giving me a better chance

that the wind
can't blow it out.

NARRATOR:
Mike doubles
the boiler flame size.

And it works.

The howling wind outside can
no longer blow out the boiler.

We come together as a team.

That's why we call each other
brothers.

We are the unsung heroes.

♪ ♪

NARRATOR:
Outside, on the frozen airfield,

Kevin and Dionne check
that the clearance

of the two runways is on track.

♪ ♪

CHRISTOPHER CLIFFORD:
We got about 18

to 24 inches coming in.

This is the worst storm we've
had in a few years.

Right now,
we're going up and down,

making sure there's
no snow and ice build-up.

NARRATOR:
These mammoth machines weigh
over 28 tons each

and can clear almost

four million square feet
per hour.

SYPIOE:
If we were to allow

the snow to accumulate,
that would increase

our chancing of icing
on the runways and taxiways.

♪ ♪

NARRATOR:
As night falls,

the storm finally clears
New York.

Thanks to Kevin,
Dionne, and the team,

the first planes can safely
land in the morning,

and construction work can resume
on the $8 billion redevelopment.

GILLEN:
Fortunate enough
to have a young staff here

who's anxious to chomp
at the bit at a storm like this,

to get this airport back
to where it belongs.

♪ ♪

NARRATOR:
Across the site,
construction work on the new

main Terminal B building
is progressing at high speed.

FORSE:
The biggest challenge

is just the volume of things
that are left to do

and the amount of different
people that have to do them.

NARRATOR:
Lighting and electrics
are now installed,

the walls of the departures hall
are plastered and painted,

and the brand-new
tiled flooring has been laid.

FORSE:
We've just come
into the departures hall.

As you can kind of see,
all the ticketing islands

kind of up and ready to go.

You can imagine yourself coming
in, checking in for your flight.

NARRATOR:
As the inside
of the main terminal building

nears completion...

♪ ♪

...outside, the team
is under intense pressure...

...to complete the 2,500-ton,
450-foot-long bridges

that connect the terminal
to the new gates.

The eastern bridge is now
complete

and connects the main terminal
building to the eastern gates.

Today, they must haul
the connecting truss

of the western bridge
into place.

This will complete the span.

It's a major milestone.

MOAWAD:
Very exciting, very exciting.

Oh, come on, this is the last
one, very exciting.

NARRATOR:
The crane holds the truss

just above
its connection points.

As the ironworkers
get into position...

MURPHY:
Look at these clouds coming in,
you gotta be kidding me.

NARRATOR:
...Mother Nature throws
superintendent Dan Murphy

a curveball.

MURPHY:
We've got the truss assembly
up in the air.

The wind has picked up, which is
not good.

NARRATOR:
It's now a race
against the elements

to install the truss
before the team

loses control.

MURPHY:
I'm not, uh...

(horn honking)

Not liking what I'm seeing.

Watch the boom.

(metal creaking)

If we gotta take it out,
take it out.

NARRATOR:
The wind threatens to blow
the bridge truss installation

off course.

Dan and his ironworkers
must act fast.

It needs to be level
to come straight down

and not get hung up on anything,

not touch anything.

NARRATOR:
The truss slides down into

the connection plates
on all four corners.

The team tightens 240 bolts.

♪ ♪

NARRATOR:
They've finally completed
the steel span.

And the very first pedestrian
crosses the new bridge.

MURPHY:
All of those components
coming together

to make this successful is...

It's why we come to work,
really.

♪ ♪

NARRATOR:
Over the next 20 weeks,

they clad the steel trusses

and install more than

400 panels of glass
to enclose the bridge.

It's a huge achievement
for the Terminal B team.

It is a significant milestone.

I'm very proud of the guys.

♪ ♪

NARRATOR:
Inside, the team is completing
another major landmark

for the project--

the installation
of the airport's

vast new baggage system.

The new airport
must be able to process

40 million bags each year.

Getting the right bag
to the right aircraft

requires an ingenious system.

ANGELO SALGADO:
Each bag is given a bag tag.

This bag tag becomes basically

the license plate of the bag.

This bag tag has

a unique identifier that will
then be tracked

throughout the entire system.

NARRATOR:
A network of scanners
reads the tags

and automatically directs
the bags left or right

to the correct loading bay.

Vertical sorting units
also move bags up

or down a level, if needed.

Before all baggage

moves airside, the conveyors
shuttle it through security.

The new state-of-the-art
technology

that we have in security

can pick up anything,
but if it picks it up,

it's dealing with it,

dealing with it swiftly.

NARRATOR:
With up to 6,000 bags to check
every hour,

how can engineers ensure
a suspicious bag

is not sent onto the aircraft?

Special explosive detection
machines scan every bag.

If they raise a red flag,

bags are rerouted to TSA agents
on the lower floor

for hand checking,

while cleared bags must go up
a level to reach the gates.

NARRATOR:
Vertical sorting units--
VSUs--

are an essential part
of the security system.

Their conveyors divert the bags
either up or down,

depending on whether
they are cleared or not.

The VSUs automatically ensure

a suspicious bag
never makes it onto an aircraft,

keeping the skies safe
for passengers.

It's protection of life,
protection of property,

then resume operations.

♪ ♪

NARRATOR:
It's now a race

to the finish line for Jessica

and the Terminal B team
to complete

all elements of the fit-out.

Workers battle to wire up
the vast network of lights,

install more than 3,000 seats

and 250 toilets,

and lay more than 80,000 square
feet of carpet.

FORSE:
I feel relieved.

It's a really
great accomplishment.

It's nice to see
all the hard work

and all the planning works
exactly as you've drawn it up.

♪ ♪

NARRATOR:
It takes four years
of painstaking planning

and relentless construction...

...but now LaGuardia's first new
terminal is finally ready

to welcome passengers.

VERO:
Each milestone we were able
to deliver to the public,

they started
to see the transformation.

And today is just

one more in that series
of steps.

And it's, it's just great
for all of us.

NARRATOR:
Terminal B now has 850,000

square feet
of light-filled space,

with streamlined check-ins...

...custom artworks,

and large cafés.

Departure lounges
now offer modern,

spacious rest areas

for even the most discerning
New York traveler.

COTTON:
They're walking into a facility

which has 55-foot-high

floor-to-ceiling glass, art,

an enormously appealing,

modern, global-standard
facility.

And just to see the surprise
on their faces was

very striking
and very satisfying.

FORSE:
It's been a very long project,

so to see all these
accomplishments over time

and celebrate them is really
important

to keep the motivation up
and going.

♪ ♪

NARRATOR:
Outside, with the new taxiways
complete,

the team gathers to celebrate
another major milestone.

The first aircraft will
finally pass

beneath the 65-foot-high
eastern bridge,

and planes will have more access

to and from the gates
of the new terminal.

The twin bridges represent
a world first.

Never before has an airport
used two bridges

over active taxiways.

They will revolutionize
operations at Terminal B,

allowing aircraft
greater flexibility

to taxi around the airport,
reducing delays.

COTTON:
If an airplane is coming in
from one direction,

the departing aircraft
can be pushed out

and leave
in the other direction.

So, you should never hear
a pilot again at LaGuardia say,

"I'm sorry, we can't push back

because there's an airplane
blocking our alleyway."

VERO:
So many different entities
are part

of a multibillion-dollar project
like this.

And it's just so important
to take a minute

and celebrate the wins,
celebrate the victories.

Everyone is filled with pride
today.

♪ ♪

NARRATOR:
The brand-new Terminal C
opened in 2022,

with construction on
the last gates finishing up

about two years later.

♪ ♪

Altogether,
it takes more than eight years,

$8 billion,

and a unique vision

to transform LaGuardia
from America's worst airport

to one of its very best.

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

♪ ♪