LOS ANGELES | LAX Modernization Plan

[bzcat]

Originally Posted by caligrad

^^^ Sweet, thanks for the updates. I'm just happy its still in the works and not canceled. Still a bit bummed that the bridge was canceled though

Bridge was nice aesthetic element but would have cost a lot of money. The original plan for MSC had a two-way utility and transportation tunnels underground and the pedestrian bridge. It doesn't take an accountant to see that you can just enlarge the tunnels a bit and put pedestrian access underground too without incurring the cost of the bridge. The costs estimates for the bridge escalated really quick when actual engineering work started so it was eliminated in the final design.

Plus there was concern that the bridge would inhibit LAX's ability to serve bigger aircraft in the future (e.g. proposed A380-900, which may need a taller vertical stabilizer)

[LDVArch]

Originally Posted by bzcat

Bridge was nice aesthetic element but would have cost a lot of money. The original plan for MSC had a two-way utility and transportation tunnels underground and the pedestrian bridge. It doesn't take an accountant to see that you can just enlarge the tunnels a bit and put pedestrian access underground too without incurring the cost of the bridge. The costs estimates for the bridge escalated really quick when actual engineering work started so it was eliminated in the final design.

Plus there was concern that the bridge would inhibit LAX's ability to serve bigger aircraft in the future (e.g. proposed A380-900, which may need a taller vertical stabilizer)

I don't think LAWA ran cost estimates for the bridge.

It conducted an engineering study which found that the foundations for the bridge on the east side would be too wide, thus costing TBIT at least one gate.

That study also found that the bridge interfered with the flight envelope (upon rotation) that the FAA prescribes.

(This study was discussed during a board meeting.)