San Antonio Airport Project Proves Benefits of Changing Course

The unprecedented nature of our current global financial circumstances can lead to disaster for the meek. The city of San Antonio has demonstrated that it will be among the bold leaders who are willing to change course, Hochstetler writes.

By Paula Hochstetler

Consultants and contractors in Texas and across the country face difficult times. The good news is that challenging times present unique opportunities. For example, the city of San Antonio - the eighth largest city in the U.S. - is a community that has exhibited a remarkable willingness to change course during its complicated airport improvement program. It is successful in part because of four things: consistent interface among project stakeholders, strong leadership, flexibility and appropriate use of various project delivery methods.

Paula Hochstetler is president of the Airport Consultants Council.

Maintain Consistent Interface Among Project Stakeholders In 2002, the city of San Antonio had plans to upgrade or replace the aging facilities at San Antonio International Airport. Some preconstruction projects were complete and some enabling projects were under way when a renewed focus on tourism emerged. The city decided to expand its vision and create an airport that reflected community pride.

Build Strong Leadership A new city manager, Sheryl Sculley, was hired just as economic and marketplace challenges were emerging. A new airport management team was also brought on board. The new leaders decided to take a second look at the improvement program during construction with an eye toward preparing the city for dynamic growth while managing the project cost escalation.

Embrace Flexibility The new leaders and their stakeholders faced unexpected challenges. The airport improvement projects became increasingly expensive due particularly to the price of construction materials. Over the past year, the price of iron and scrap steel increased 100% and the cost of asphalt increased 36%. At the same time, the availability of contractors has been at a premium in many regions of the country. The city had to take drastic measures to account for these unexpected changes.

Consider Alternate Project Delivery Methods The city took the bold step of replacing its project delivery method mid-stream, moving from a traditional design-bid-build approach to construction management at-risk. The CM@R agreement allowed the city to select the most qualified construction manager and it gave the construction manager control of the program costs and schedule.

Why had CM@R become a better fit? In addition to the increasing cost of construction materials, San Antonio's surging growth and the gulf rebuilding effort after the 2005 hurricanes had severely constrained the availability of contractor labor and equipment in South Texas. The result was limited interest in competitive bidding of public projects. No project is without some challenges and there is no silver bullet for all. But in this instance under CM@Rm unavoidable price escalation was dealt with effectively, schedules were kept and it seems the airport will become the gateway the city's leaders envisioned.