Flying High Again

W.G. TOMKO WINS PROJECT

Various delays plus a global pandemic pushed back the project start date. But by mid-2021, the project, estimated to cost about $1.7 billion, was finally underway. SMACNA member W.G. Tomko Inc., a mechanical contractor based in Finleyville, Pennsylvania, was awarded a $65-million contract covering the new terminal’s mechanical, HVAC and piping, plus similar work on the existing terminal and all plumbing. 

W.G. Tomko got its start as a plumbing business founded in 1954 in Bill and Martha Tomko’s Hazelwood, Pennsylvania, home. After decades as just a plumbing company, Tomko added duct fabrication and installation services 18 years ago. In 2008, W.G. Tomko became a full-service mechanical contractor, and in 2010, the company added 20,000 square feet to its sheet metal shop.

AIRPORT REQUIRES EXTENSIVE HVAC

Tomko fabricated all of the airport project’s rectangular and spiral duct at its sheet metal facility. Much of the duct was 20-gauge, 4-inch water column positive pressure, with pressure classes ranging from -2 to +4 inches water column. About 80% of the duct was rectangular, as large as 170 by 60 inches, able to move up to 50,000 cubic feet per minute of air. The new terminal HVAC includes 23 air handlers, 40 fan-coil units, 29 fans and 94 variable air volume (VAV) systems.

Tomko’s extensive experience with building information modeling (BIM) and other construction software helped ensure the work was the highest quality, says David Porupski, Tomko Sheet Metal Fabrication Manager. “Our sheet metal department uses full BIM on almost every project and a CAD-to-CAM process that makes our fabrication top notch,” Porupski says. 

Tomko officials say they were lucky that all the contractors on the project got along well, although Hughes says that didn’t mean Tomko didn’t encounter some obstacles. “One of the biggest challenges was just trying to schedule things appropriately,” Hughes says. “Material handling was (another) big one. Because along with the airport terminal itself, they were redoing the whole infrastructure. There was a lot of civil [construction] work right outside of the building, and they brought a new highway system in the front. So, we were trying to coordinate where we could take deliveries and get our materials to the locations needed.”

Patrick Barrett, a Tomko Project Executive, says the airport authority was eager to get the project finished. Multiple shifts, six days a week, were required. “There were two shifts going on for a good portion of it,” he says. Tomko was working “pretty much every Saturday for the last year.” 

More than 140 Tomko employees worked on the job. 

Hughes points out that the project was a learning exercise for everyone involved. “The guys did a fantastic job,” he adds. “We had some senior mechanics out here plus quite a few younger apprentices who got to learn from a big job like this. They got a good education out here.”

As if the airport project wasn’t enough, more than 130 Tomko team members were simultaneously working on a Form Energy solar battery plant 30 miles away in Weirton, West Virginia. The facility covers almost 12 acres under one roof.

“So it got a little difficult logistically to get everything out here and stay ahead on multiple work sites. It was challenging, but with these guys, everything's pretty much easy,” Porupski says.