Home to the largest undergraduate Aeronautical Science (Professional Pilot) program in the nation, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (ERAU) is nicknamed ‘the Harvard of the Sky’. According to the Department of Aerospace Engineering, they are educating more aspiring aerospace engineers than any other university in the United States. Sundt previously constructed the ERAU T2 Residence Hall and the STEM Education Center and Planetarium . Now, we’re returning to campus for two new exciting projects – the T3 Residence Halls and the Strategic Academic Flight Education (S.A.F.E.) building.

 

 

A New Home Base for ERAU Students

The T3 Residence Halls features two new student housing buildings that future pilots and aeronautical engineers will call home. Combined, the new buildings will total 166,306 square feet and house 300 residents. The first floor of the building will consist of office space and classrooms, and the second to the fourth floor will be dedicated to four-bedroom, four-bathroom suites with a shared full-size kitchen, washer and dryer, dining room and living room. Each floor will also have a common room where residents can hang out and decompress from their studies. The aviation industry faces a critical pilot shortage nationwide, making this increase in capacity for on-campus housing more important than ever.

 

 

Building on Uneven Ground in Fly-Ball Territory

The original construction plans placed the new building on a large hill in the middle of campus. Before building began, the team was tasked with flattening the area, relocating over 30,000 cubic yards of soils and recompacting it to create a building pad for future building sites. The onsite crew was able to successfully move all soils with the help of more than 2,500 dump trucks through an active campus without issue. The team built retaining walls and backfilled behind them to bring both buildings up to the same grade specified in the design plan.

A lack of accurate, up to date as-builts may have been a challenge for most general contractors, but Sundt planned for this challenge during the bid process. Because most campuses are notoriously frequently upgraded over the years, accurate as-builts are not always available to a new contractor arriving on site. The team had a general idea of where these utilities were located, but their location needed to be verified through extensive research with campus maintenance team, surveying and utility locating services as well as potholing to physically find the underground utility. By combining modern technology, pre-planning and teamwork between the campus, Sundt and our trusted subcontractors, the team was able to produce accurate as-builts that the campus can rely on in the future.

Working on an active campus always presents the challenge of minimizing disruption during key testing times or major events and managing pedestrian access and safety. However, one surprising obstacle for the T3 Residence Hall project team is discovering they’re working in “foul ball territory.” The jobsite’s proximity to the campus softball field means the project team has been advised to “watch for flying objects” during work, and safety precautions on site include keeping an eye out for fly balls.

As the project progresses, the crew jokes that one of the talented softball players may go the distance and make contact with the building as it’s being constructed. The project is scheduled to complete construction in time for the 26-27 school year.

 

 

First Class Instruction, Flight Practice, Feedback, and Flight Simulation Under One Roof

Three miles down the road at Prescott Regional Airport, the Sundt crew continues work on another project, the ERAU S.A.F.E. building. The 19,713-square-foot training facility will house instruction areas, a hangar fit to perform maintenance on two Cessna planes, high-tech flight simulators, debrief rooms, TSA security, and floor-to-ceiling windows measuring approximately 110 linear feet for a panoramic view of the adjacent runway.

At Embry-Riddle’s request, cameras were installed on the exterior of the building so parents can watch their children take off and land, a feature that makes the experience even more exciting for students and their families. Embry-Riddle has 100 planes for student practice and logs 100,000 flight hours a year, making top of the line training facilities essential to their operations.

 

 

Training for Takeoff

The flight simulators added to the building are not only extremely technical, but extremely large, weighing 3,200 pounds while they are static. When the simulators are active, the team expects up to 5,600 pounds of max compression force. This unique equipment called for a sizable amount of steel incorporated on the second floor of the building to support the enormous simulators.

“Normally, flight simulators are installed on the first floor with a thick, reinforced concrete pad to handle the heavy loads,” explained Fadi Farah, project manager. “In this case, the simulators are on the second floor, right above the hangar. The structural steel is specially designed to support the weight and movement of all four dynamic simulators.”

The simulators are specifically for the Cessna aircraft, designed to mimic the exact planes students will be taking to the sky during practice hours.

 

 

Soaring Over Challenges

Completing work on an active airport requires constant communication and coordination with the Prescott Regional Air Traffic Control. The project team had to alert the airport whenever they had plans to work above the roofline of the building, and make sure all planes were aware of the construction occurring.

 

 

A Collaboration Where Vision and Values Take Flight

“Embry-Riddle is a worldwide leader in aviation, and Sundt is extremely proud to have the opportunity to build our third and fourth projects for the University,” said Shawn Blubaum, project executive. “As a 135-year-old Arizona-based contractor and national leader in aviation construction, it’s a natural fit between ERAU and Sundt. The core values, mission, and vision of Embry-Riddle are perfectly aligned with Sundt’s core values and our mission and purpose.”

Learn more about Sundt’s higher education and aviation projects.