marchapril2021 - 20

BOARDING BRIDGES
just a better appearance overall. And that
was something that in the past we've had
problems with leaking jet bridges, and
rusty jet bridges. "
Bass added while the airlines are
great at maintaining planes and moving
passengers, airlines have limited staff
at a small hub making it difficult to
maintain a piece of equipment like a
jetbridge.
" And so, we changed our approach
to be more holistic from the airport's
perspective. Because we're good at
maintaining facilities, and we're good
at keeping an appearance that we want
to set for the overall airport. And I
think that this was an opportunity
both for the airlines to relinquish some
of their responsibilities and focus in
on their business models, and for us
to focus in on what's kind of our core
responsibilities, too, " he continued.
The upgrade to new bridges also
gave ORF greater technology than
their 1980s equipment.
" When you compare 1980s era
equipment to current equipment,
there are significant upgrades and
technologies, " said Pearson. " New
features include safety upgrades such as
cameras for increased visibility around
the boarding bridge during operation,
a bumper surrounding the wheels to
immediately stop the bridges if it comes
in contact with anything on the ramp,
and other technologies such as HMI
screens instead of traditional buttons and
dials providing a better human/machine
interface. This results in a more efficient
and safer boarding and deplaning process

which improves the efficiency of the
airport and airlines operating there. "
One of the newest features of the
bridges at ORF is a monitoring system
called iOPS. This system provides real
time data to the airport on the current
status of equipment and can provide
preventative maintenance notifications.
" They receive real time data from
the iOPs system on how each piece of
equipment is operating, for example,
what temperature the air conditioner
is blowing and the status of each piece
of equipment. If something goes down,
the airport receives an immediate
notification instead of waiting for
personnel to identify an issue. This
minimizes any downtime and increases
the efficiency of operations and overall
customer experience " said Pearson.
" The remote monitoring system
allows us to have our finger on the pulse
and help our ultimate goal of reduced
f light delays that might be caused by
equipment failures, " added Bass.
Uniquely, ORF requested six
CCTV cameras strategically installed
throughout each of the passenger
boarding bridges, said Nicholas Monaco,
AERO BridgeWorks project engineer.
" Typically there's one, maybe two
cameras on the bridge itself to monitor
activity in the area, but Norfolk
requested that we have six cameras with
the capability to be recorded for up to
ten days at a secure location. This way,
Norfolk personnel are always aware of
what was going on around the exterior
and interior of bridge " he said.
As part of the technology upgrade,
The bridges replaced ones
from the 1980s and sport the
latest technology.

20 \ AIRPORTBUSINESS / MARCH/APRIL 2021

an all-new f iber communication
backbone and upgraded electrical
systems were installed. " There were
two concourses at the airport and we
ran fiber throughout both concourses to
have connection points at every single
gate " said Monaco.
The technology upgrade required an
all-new fiber communication backbone
and electrical system.
" It was a huge fiber communication
upgrade, " Monaco said. " There were
two concourses at the airport and they
ran fiber throughout both concourses to
reach out to every single gate. "
To keep the project on track while
diminishing its impact on ORF's
operations, the airport and AERO
BridgeWorks created a tight, phased
schedule to bring the bridges online.
The year before the project, Bass
said ORF worked with IT provider
Amadeus to install a network system
that would go to all of their common
use gates.
" We created a schedule in which we
would only take down one passenger
loading bridge at a time from a particular
airline, and then be able to move them
to a common use gate temporarily for
the duration of construction for that
particular gate, " said Bass. " So, at any
point in time, I would have down only
about two to three passenger loading
bridges at a time at the airport, but we
would break it up as I would take one
from each airline during that duration
or for how many airlines that I would
need it at that point on the schedule.
Because we broke it into about seven
phases of the project. "
" The project was executed at a fully
operational airport and required the
team to plan essentially seven phases, "
added Taylor. " Working with ORF
Operations, the lead architect and
an owner's representative, AERO
developed a plan which initially installed
three gates at locations which, at the
time, were not serving specific airline
tenants. Those gates then operated as
swing gates for future phases. AERO
and the Owner's Representative worked
closely with the airline tenants and with
the airport authority to expedite phasing
the airline gate movement. This often
provided the opportunity to shave
additional time off the project schedule. "
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