PHX Perspective

Columns Springing Up All Over the Airport

Visitors to Sky Harbor may have noticed pillars popping up in increasing numbers and in more visible locations around and to the east of Terminal 4. What are we building, the Parthenon?

Actually, now that more shafts have been drilled and steel cross foundation cages placed as part of the construction of the Airport’s PHX Sky Train®, you can expect to see more and more of those columns that will support the train guideway.

By the time Stage One of Sky Train construction is completed in early 2013, Sky Harbor will boast 161 pillars, well more than double the Parthenon’s, including 56 for the stations. PHX Sky Train will offer transportation between METRO light rail, east economy parking and Terminal 4, which serves 80 percent of Sky Harbor’s passengers.

But wait—there are more pillars to come as part of Stage Two construction. Another 164 pillars will be placed between Terminal 4, Terminal 3 and Terminal 2 and continuing west to the Rental Car Center (RCC). Total pillar count: A whopping 325. Completion in 2020 of Stage Two will permit travel throughout the Airport, including the RCC.

PHX Sky Train’s pillars may not be made of marble like those of the Parthenon, but they are quite impressive nonetheless. The Airport’s tallest columns are about 95 feet in height, with the average height at between 30 feet and 40 feet, and range between 8 feet and 13 feet in diameter. The visible part of an average column weighs approximately 175,000 pounds and the underground foundations weigh about the same.

The photos at the top of this page depict columns and other construction. Above right see a time-lapse video of the demolition of bridges on eastbound Sky Harbor Boulevard at southbound 44th Street and Air Lane and westbound Sky Harbor Boulevard at southbound 44th Street. The demolitions were to allow construction of an access road from the PHX Sky Train Maintenance Storage Facility site and work on a new ramp into the Airport.