North Carolina’s Piedmont Triad International Airport (GSO) is to get a new Air Traffic Control (ATC) tower, thanks to a major investment of US$40.9 million from the US Department of Transportation’s Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
Located in Greensboro, the airport is North Carolina’s third busiest airport and has a catchment of more than 4.5 million people living within a 90-minute drive.
GSO’s new 180-foot-tall tower will replace the existing 90-foot-tall tower that has been in operation since 1974. Construction is due to begin in early 2019 and the FAA expects to commission the facility in early 2022.
The tower will accommodate up to eight positions for air traffic controllers in a 550-square foot tower cab. A 16,650 square-foot base building will house administrative offices and a training classroom. It will also anchor the tower, which will house the Terminal Radar Approach Control (TRACON) with up to 10 radar positions for air traffic controllers. It will be equipped with state-of-the-art automation and communications systems allowing air traffic controllers to manage flights safely and efficiently at the North Carolina transportation hub.
Archer Western Construction, LLC has been awarded the construction contract by the FAA to construct the new tower.
