Falling debris and dropped tools that landed in open and operating parts of Portland International Airport led to a brief shutdown in work on the massive main terminal renovation.
No one was injured in any of the four incidents, spokesperson Allison Ferré said, and the areas were largely closed to passengers. But the Port of Portland, which operates the airport, halted construction for three days in late February, citing “close calls” and a need to review its safety practices and slow down its construction schedule.
The port has postponed the opening of the new main terminal, originally planned for May 22. It has not announced a new opening date but expects to do so by the end of the month. (Airport officials told food and retail vendors this month that the reopening will not likely be sooner than July.)
Four incidents precipitated the construction shutdown, airport officials said:
- On Feb. 6, a worker on the construction side of a temporary wall dropped a pipe wrench that landed behind a ticket counter on the other side of the wall.
- On Feb. 9, a bucket with materials fell off an elevated platform into a restricted area occupied by airport employees.
- Also on Feb. 9, an airport employee entered an employee-only restroom where demolition was happening above. It was not adequately restricted to prevent employees from entering during that time, and the employee heard debris fall onto the ceiling. Shortly after the employee left the restroom, debris pushed an access panel in the ceiling open and fell through.
- On Feb. 12, workers dropped a metal panel from a lift, and it landed in the ticket counter area, outside a barrier set up to prevent anyone from getting too close to the work area.
Ferré said the airport has implemented a new safety plan. It will slow work and reduce overtime hours, create larger work zones to isolate construction from other areas, add staff to supervise construction and implement new approval process for construction work before it proceeds.
Vince Granato, the port’s chief projects officer, said not all the changes have been made yet. He said it will take time to hire and train more people.
Granato said it’s not clear yet how much the slowed timeline and increase in staff will increase the project cost, projected at about $2.15 billion. There are “cost contingencies” built into the budget, he said, which could cover some additional expenditures.
He also said it’s possible to finish later phases of the project quicker than planned. While much of the renovation was set to be opened to the public in May, work was expected to continue through the end of 2025.
“Will we be able to make up some of this time on the back end? Perhaps,” Granato said. “But it’s way too soon to tell whether there will be additional costs.”
Data provided by the port shows that the project’s injury rate has been lower than the construction injury average.
Granato said he believes the safety incidents are a result of trying to do major construction over an existing airport.
“I don’t believe it’s even a function of work being done too quickly. This is a complicated job, trying to build an airport over the top of an operating airport,” Granato said. “We have almost 5 million craft worker hours on this project, so it’s going to be impossible to have zero incidents. But we’re super proud of our safety record to this point.”
—Jayati Ramakrishnan reports on Oregonians’ access to housing, transportation and mental health care. Reach her at jramakrishnan@oregonian.com.
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