MSY

The $1.3 billion Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport Long Term Development was one of the largest and most complex Louisiana state projects in recent years. In 2015, the New Orleans Aviation Board, along with the Mayor of New Orleans, approved a plan to build a new North Terminal campus that would include 2 concourses, 30 gates, a new parking garage, and multiple facilities to accommodate continuously increasing number of travelers to New Orleans. The method of delivery chosen for this project was the Construction Manager At-Risk (CMAR). The construction started in January 2016 by awarding the contract to the CMAR Joint Venture of Hunt-Gibbs-Boh-Metro, and it was completed in November 2019.

VGP’s initial involvement with the project, as a subconsultant to WSP USA Program Management Team (The Owner’s Representative), was to provide Civil Resident Engineering Professional services for the originally designed terminal construction. As construction continued, the Owner decided to add the third concourse with an additional 6 gates, and VGP was tasked to help with the design and construction management in order to fast-track completion of additional work.

This challenging project required a diligent approach, commitment and effective coordination between the Owner, the Engineer of Record, the CMAR Contractor and all major stakeholders. VGP was directly in charge of the team responsible for Quality Assurance and coordination with Contractor’s Quality Control Team to assure implementation of sufficient testing and inspection throughout the project and to make sure the contract work was accurately executed according to the plans and specifications. VGP’s other responsibilities, as the Resident Engineer, included review, process, and

tracking of thousands of Requests for Information and Submittals; review and process of monthly Pay Applications, daily Inspection and Testing Reports; review, negotiation and tracking of change orders; value engineering, constructability reviews and assistance with the design; differing site conditions mitigation; coordination with the project’s stakeholders; and construction progress reporting.

We are proud to state that the Owner was fully satisfied with the services provided by VGP, and that VGP services were retained until completion of the project. VGP has built a valuable relationship with the Owner and its representative; VGP was offered an extension of its services under the Owner’s new program manager. In our new role we will be providing administrative, professional and QAQC services as a subcontractor to Burns-McDonald.