SeaTac International Arrivals Facility

The Port of Seattle’s new International Arrivals Facility (IAF) at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport is a multi-level facility located east of the current Concourse A.

To connect arriving international passengers from the south satellite across the top of Concourse A to the new IAF is a new iconic aerial walkway which spans nearly 800 linear feet with a clear height of 85 feet. Longer than the Space Needle is tall it is now the longest structure across an active taxilane in the world. This was achieved through an elegant hybridization of cable-stayed and king post truss designs, allowing for the center span of the bridge to be fabricated off-site, and then hoisted into place at a late stage of construction. Airport operations were able to continue with minimal interruptions using this phased approach.

This $1 billion design-build project significantly enhances the international passenger experience, advances the Puget Sound region as a leading tourism and business gateway, and serves the traveling public well into the future. Replacing the 50-year-old Customs facility, the IAF increases the airport’s number of international capable gates from 12 to 20 and more than doubles passenger capacity to 2,600 passengers per hour (up from 1,200 today).

To fulfill the Port’s mission of environmental stewardship and sustainability, this facility has important green building elements:

• Low-flow restroom fixtures to reduce indoor water use
• Energy-saving features like LED lighting, energy-efficient escalator motors and variable speed motors on baggage handling devices
• Two-thirds of the building has daylighting to connect travelers to outdoors, reinforce circadian rhythms, and reduce energy consumption
• 7,163 tons of contaminated soil and 62,405 gallons of impacted stormwater removed from the project site
• Many materials sourced within 100 miles, low-emitting adhesives, materials, and coatings, and most of the construction waste was diverted from landfills

KPFF’s civil scope included roadway realignments, drainage improvements, parking lot installations and construction staging support. In addition to overall structural and seismic design, KPFF also provided vibration analysis and measurement.