BWI Marshall Airport Taxiway F, Phase 1 – Segment 2

JMT designed a segment of the future relocated Taxiway F, which was needed to provide access to a new aircraft maintenance facility (AMF) being built at BWI Thurgood Marshall International Airport.

In preparation, JMT was also tasked with developing a planning-level design for the entire length of Taxiway F, portions of Taxiway G, and an extension to Taxiway R. When completed, the future Taxiway F is intended to be a new parallel taxiway that will accommodate FAA separation requirements for TDG 6 aircraft and correct the current non-standard geometry of the existing Taxiway F.

Our design had to ensure that the segment of Taxiway F being designed for construction would be able to be extended in the future and meet all standards. One of the biggest challenges was to design this segment of Taxiway F so that it could be constructed to temporarily tie into the existing intersection of Taxiways F and G, and to provide access to the AMF, while allowing the existing taxiway system to continue to function until later segments were designed and constructed.

Establishing new horizontal and vertical geometry proved to be a challenging design task because of the skew in the alignments of the existing Taxiway F and the new Taxiway F, and the need to tie into the Taxiway F & G intersection. Since the project involved creating a future Taxiway F, the future taxiway was designed to be designated as a taxi lane when initially constructed, with provisions for renaming in the future.

Another challenge related to construction phasing, which had to be developed to minimize impacts on present Taxiway F operations. The project included night work for pavement tie-ins and provisions to build stubs for the future taxiway connections that would allow those extensions to be constructed without impacts to operations of the AMF.

The JMT design team proposed a new full-strength asphalt pavement section to support ADG-III and IV aircraft, and we designed a temporary and permanent relocated vehicle service road. The airfield design included new taxiway edge lighting, pavement markings, and airfield signage. Stormwater management was achieved by creating regional stormwater treatment ponds and best management practices adjacent to the AMF and minimizing stormwater management facilities between the taxiways and runway. The team obtained permits for stormwater management, water quality, and erosion and sediment control from the Maryland Department of the Environment.

The final design for this segment of Taxiway F was divided between two construction contracts and multiple grant years to maximize Federal grant participation.