For months, Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport has been constructing a massive, multi-million dollar canopy on the curbside outside its domestic terminal.
The steel trusses for the canopy have now been installed along almost the entire length of the Terminal North curbside, with vehicles driving underneath to pick up and drop off passengers.
The canopies are part of a $265 million contract for work on the domestic terminal and curbside. They are a high-profile piece of the airport’s $6 billion, 20-year expansion and renovation.
The construction has driven closures of the upper roadway overnight from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. at the Terminal North curbside, causing traffic congestion and lines of cars on the lower roadway and approach.
Workers will soon install the canopy covering, a translucent plastic membrane that the airport says is “durable and recyclable.” It will be made of ETFE, or ethylene tetrafluoroethylene, similar to the material used in the roof of the Mercedes-Benz stadium.
Below is a look at the progress on the canopy, which will be 65 feet tall and weigh 3.5 million pounds when complete. Once the Terminal North canopy is complete, work on the Terminal South canopy will begin. Canopy construction is expected to continue into 2019.
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