university - FontAwesome car - FontAwesome Page 1 industry - FontAwesome leaf - FontAwesome building-o - FontAwesome Page 1 Page 1 anchor - FontAwesome Page 1 Page 1

PHL Panorama

Market:
Aviation

A well-designed airport provides a direct link to the economic growth of a community and metropolitan area. Urban’s aviation division has successfully provided airport planning, design, and construction management services since our inception. 

  • Planning
  • Design
  • Construction Support

Aviation planning is the art of assisting airports in identifying and implementing realistic and achievable capital improvement programs to serve the existing and future demands for air transportation services. Urban collaborates with airports around the country to work with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and state departments of transportation (DOTs) for planning, grant funding, and approvals and authorizations.

 

We can provide aviation demand forecasting, airport master plans, and airport layout plans. Beyond those readily known planning services, we support planning efforts by providing passenger terminal plans, financial feasibility studies, environmental impact assessments, land use compatibility plans, noise studies, Terminal Instrument Procedures (TERPS) analysis, Part 77 and airspace planning, and air traffic management. Our team has also provided landside, airside, and terminal or facility planning or preliminary engineering for individual projects.  We further provide planning services to regional and state agencies and authorities for aviation system plans.

 

A significant part of the planning effort is public outreach and stakeholder involvement. As part of our master planning, environmental planning, and NEPA planning (CatX, EA, EIS) services, we assist airports, permitting stakeholders, and their neighboring communities in identifying means of mitigating the impacts of aircraft and airport operations and facilities on “quality of life” issues. 

The primary responsibility of airside taxiway and runway systems is to move aircraft to and from the runways in the most efficient manner to limit delays. Airside design begins with airfield planning for taxiways, aprons, and runways. Urban has provided planning and design of all types of airside aviation and airfield facilities, including:

  • Runway
  • Taxiway and apron design
  • Pavement investigations
  • Analysis and design
  • Stormwater management and drainage design
  • Runway safety area design
  • Utility and utility relocations
  • Service roads
  • Runway and taxiway lighting and signage
  • Airfield electrical systems design
  • Navigational aid (NAVAID) planning and design

 

Our goal for landside facilities is to create an airport that can be easily navigated. We want to remove the stress of finding your gate because traveling is stressful enough already. Our landside design experience includes roadway and highway planning and design; culvert and bridge design; stormwater management and drainage design; utility and utility relocations; traffic studies, traffic engineering, and signal design; roadway lighting and signage; parking lots and garages; and maintenance and operations facilities, including materials storage areas. 

Urban guides projects from planning to design and on through construction. We oversee all contractors and the delivery and completion of projects. Urban provides a wide range of construction support services, some of which are performed during design. Our estimating, scheduling, and constructability support services aid in the development of budgets and schedules for construction documents, as well as in the review of projects with a critical eye to contractor issues. At this stage, Urban’s primary goal is to minimize cost and future issues - foresight.

 

During construction, Urban’s construction managers, inspectors, and administrative staff support the project by providing shop drawings and submittal reviews; responding to contractor questions; and reviewing and approving contractors’ safety plans, construction schedules, and work plans for their assignments. Urban supervises field and laboratory testing, conducts regularly scheduled coordination meetings with contractors, and prepares progress charts, construction schedules, and reports. The project’s major items will be identified and broken down by areas, phases, and types of work. This helps Urban prepare the most logical and efficient construction schedule for each project undertaken, and our construction personnel will follow through with close monitoring of construction progress.  At the end of the project, we will generate punch lists and perform a project close-out review.

Airfields and Airside Design Projects

We provide extensive airfield planning and engineering design services. Our experience includes the planning and design of runways, taxiways, and aprons; airfield pavement inspection, management, and design; airfield utility design, including airfield lighting, signage, and FAA navigational aids and controls; stormwater management; construction phasing and scheduling; cost estimating; and construction management and inspection. 

Corporate Aviation

We have performed planning and engineering design services for decades. This experience has provided us with a thorough understanding of the unique nature of general aviation and the differences in operations, planning, design, and construction between corporate airports and larger air-carrier counterparts. 

Terminals & Facilities

For decades, we have provided planning, engineering design, and construction management for various airport terminal and aviation facilities.  Our team of engineers and construction services personnel ​know and understand the specific building codes for terminals, hangars, and maintenance facilities. 

Landside

Our aviation practice provides solutions that cover the full range of ​landside challenges.  We know the industry standards, from FAA Advisory Circulars and state DOT requirements, to local codes and conservation district requirements. 

Military

Our aviation professionals have a proven track record of providing services for military bases and agencies. We are experienced with military and federal Unified Facilities Criteria (UFC), Engineering Technical Letters (ETLs), and other Technical Manuals (TMs) and military standards for design and construction of military fixed and rotary wing airfields.