Photo: Courtesy of McCarthy Building Companies Inc.
Ghafari Associates LLC designed an enormous metal building system for Southwest Airlines’ maintenance hangar at William P. Hobby Airport. The 246,600-square-foot building is 219 feet long with clear spans and has a 183-foot, 6-inch eave. At the hangar doors, it opens more than 240 feet wide. The hangar fits six Boeing 737s or two Boeing 787s.
One project challenge was executing construction that met FAA restrictions. Due to height restrictions and potential disturbances to air traffic, Sure Steel Inc. minimized the amount of time with a crane in the air by assembling most wide span elements into large kits and then bringing them to the job site. Sure Steel installed a 19-foottall girder truss installed in two pieces; one that was 318 feet long and the other was 230 feet long.
Sure Steel erected BlueScope Buildings North America Inc.’s metal building system. In total, more than 2,100 tons of steel and more than 101,000 square feet of insulated metal panels (IMPs) were used.
Another project challenge was to rollform continuous, seamless roof panels on-site. With a sizeable portion of the panels reaching 230 feet in some areas, it took careful execution to move the panels into place without any damage.
Over a 7-inch built-up roof, CENTRIA’s SRS 3 structural standing seam roof system was installed. At the walls, CENTRIA’s 2-inch-thick Versawall insulated metal panels (IMPs) were installed.
