Construction crews working on the new concourse at Key West International Airport are wrapping up installation of one of the major components of the new project, the building’s glass curtain wall.
Eight new jet bridges are also en route and will be installed next month, according to Monroe County Director of Airports Richard Strickland.
Crews started erecting the glass panels in late May with the process nearing completion in the coming days, Strickland said. The glass curtain wall comprises 446 panels composed of two layers laminated for impact and spaced apart to provide an insulated, high-performance envelope, according to Mead & Hunt, which has provided planning, design and construction services for the project.
“This is another major milestone within the Concourse A project and I have to thank our design teams, construction team and my staff who continue working so hard to bring it to fruition,” Strickland said.
Electrochromic glass is a type of smart-glass technology that can switch between transparent and opaque states in response to an applied voltage. It consists of several layers of glass, with a thin electrochromic coating between them, Strickland said.
When an electric current is applied to the coating, ions within the coating migrate and cause the glass to darken. The process is reversible, and the glass can return to its transparent state when the current is removed. The tinting is on a daylight sensor, which allows for the electric charge to be applied only when in direct sunlight. The curtain wall assemblies are designed to withstand a 200-mph large missile impact, according to Strickland.
The panels are environmentally friendly, as well. The panels have bird-safe glazing in a pattern that is fused to the glass that disrupts bird groups traveling in their migratory path from seeing their reflection. The ceramic pattern is a small, white dot every 2 inches in both directions. Airport officials and the design team met with concerned local wildlife preservation groups to review and gain approval for the pattern, according to Strickland.
There are 266 panels on the north façade, 37 electrochromic panels on the east façade, 32 electrochromic panels on the west façade and 111 panels on the south façade. The panels were assembled by the company Crawford-Tracey in Deerfield Beach and trucked to the job site. The north and south glass panels were manufactured by Viracon, and the east and west panels were manufactured by Sage Glass.
Eight new 48,802-square-foot concrete and glass jet bridges are set to arrive in August and be installed in September. The jet bridges are engineered with integrated visual deterrence to protect wildlife.
Airport officials held a topping-off ceremony June 5 to commemorate the completion of the steel roof structure. Concourse A is on track to be complete by 2025, with overall project completion, including baggage claim area and expanded TSA lines, set for spring 2026.
“I’m enjoying watching this project continue to develop under the guidance of our committed airport team,” Monroe County Mayor Holly Raschein said. “Concourse A will be a masterpiece.”
The concourse projects come as the airport is experiencing a record numbers of passengers.
Air travel to the airport has soared this summer, closing in on the 1 million-passenger mark.
“We continue to aim high and strive for excellence,” said Strickland, regarding a 10.7% bump year to date as of June. “The first half of the year has been a huge success as we continue to break previous records.”
The 819,702 passengers at the airport from January to June shattered previous year-to-date records, according to Strickland. There was a 7.8% increase in June from last year, with 105,523 passengers for the month.
Some of Key West International Airport’s six major airlines have made seasonal service adjustments. Jet Blue will resume its daily non-stop service to Boston on Oct. 17 aboard the Airbus A220. American Airlines and Delta Air Lines will return with non-stop service to New York’s LaGuardia in December, according to Strickland
United Airlines will resume non-stop daily service to Chicago O’Hare International Airport in late October on mainline 737-700 aircraft. United will also resume non-stop service to Washington Dulles International Airport in late December.
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