Airport Tornado Recovery
On April 22, 2011, the most powerful tornado in 44 years to hit the St. Louis area tore through Lambert-St. Louis International Airport.
Overview
On April 22, 2011, the most powerful tornado in 44 years to hit the St. Louis area tore through Lambert-St. Louis International Airport. Within 48 hours of the EF2 tornado, we were on the scene to assess the damage and to help the airport return to full operation as quickly as possible.
Highlights
- Because of the diverse nature of the damage, Thornton Tomasetti engaged all facets of its multidisciplinary team—mechanical, electrical, plumbing, fire protection, building skin, architectural and structural.
- The team focused on Terminal One, which consists of Concourses A to D. Of these, Concourse C incurred the most destruction, with shattered windows and roof damage.
- In addition to performing extensive field inspections and investigations, we assisted in reviewing the recovery plan for the airport terminal and outlying facilities.
- Where required, options were evaluated to enable the structure, built between 1955 and 1965, to meet current building code requirements and to meet security and blast protection standards implemented since the terminal was built.
- The airport was reopened and fully operational in spring 2012.