George Bush Airport (IAH) Expansion

George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH) Expansion

Location: Houston, Texas
Category: Infrastructure
Sub-Category: Airport
General Contractor: Hensel Phelps
Scope: Anchor Bolts, Main Steel & Ladders

Project Overview

The George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH), spanning over 10,000 acres and located 23 miles north of downtown Houston, ranks as the 10th busiest airport in the United States. Serving more than 41 million passengers annually, IAH is a major gateway to nearly 185 destinations through over two dozen airlines.

In 2019, IAH launched a large-scale renovation and expansion effort to solidify its global connectivity and operational excellence. Structures Online was entrusted with the steel detailing for this significant development, contributing to components associated with Rosemary’s Houston Delivery Service and the Houston City Office facilities.

Our detailing scope included:

• Anchor bolts, embeds, and structural steel

• Complex assemblies such as:

  • A bridge and a pedestrian bridge

  • Stair towers, elevator towers, and car park ramps

  • Roof access ladders and standard ladders

  • Glass rails and built-up plate girders

  • Rolled pipe structures and pipe Y-columns

  • Built-up columns, beams, and girders

A standout element of this project was the steel leaf trusses used in the Delivery Service building. These trusses featured two-dimensional slopes and posed substantial design and detailing challenges due to their massive scale and geometric complexity.

Structures Online’s deliverables included:

• Over 100 shop drawings per truss were detailed, ensuring clarity and accuracy across all assemblies

• 2D drawings of complex leaf truss structures. As the truss structure was in slopes in 2 dimensions, creating its shop drawing was a huge challenge as we had to detail multiple shop drawing from different views and angles as making it understandable for the client was also important. 

• Axonometric connection detailing, including various types of connection (splice, cruciform) and assembly conditions at the same location. 

• Cruciform connections, supporting joint strength in key structural zones. A cruciform connection in pipes refers to a pipe joint where four pipes intersect orthogonally, forming a cross or "+" shape.

• Dummy Y-columns were designed for truss integration within warehouse areas. A single truss used to consist of several assemblies but, assembling them together on site was bit complicated for the fabricators So, it was decided that these assemblies will be assembled in the warehouse itself. So, for that we detailed dummy Y-columns as the actual Y-columns were to be erected on site. 

• Accurate purlin placement on leaf truss, with precision alignment.

This project showcased Structures Online’s capability to handle intricate, large-scale infrastructure steel detailing, reinforcing our reputation for precision and excellence in the airport and transportation sectors.