Philadelphia International Airport (PHL) has been engaged in a major undertaking to replace and enhance the roofs of the terminal complex on the airport's Departures side, stretching from Terminal A-East to Terminal E. Work began earlier this year and is expected to be substantially completed by the end of December with final items of work and closeout by March 2021.

The entire project is broken down into two components: the B-C Roof and the E Roof. The B-C project is made up of 39 roofs between Terminal A-East and the C-D Connector. The E project covers the main Terminal E building, the connector to the concourse and the concourse down to the hammerhead.

Both projects involve the demolition of the existing roofs and their replacement with a multi-layered roofing system that produces a new code-compliant, leak-free product. Each day, the portion of roof that is removed must be replaced with waterproof layer that same day. The process limits the square footage that can be completed in a day, depending on crew size and weather. 

“The roofs had reached their protective lifespan and repairs were needed more often,” noted Imad Haq, Acting Airport Engineering Manager. “The reduction in on-site personnel and passengers at the airport in general allowed for a somewhat noisy and disturbing type of work to be done at a time when we would be disrupting fewer employees and passengers.”

The projects are a multi-team collaboration among a variety of trades, designers, and construction management firms as well as Division of Aviation personnel. The B-C Roof project has an overall cost of $7 million, the E Roof project’s overall cost is $6.3 million.