With a parking capacity of 3400 cars, a beautiful and spacious parking structure is now open for business at Continental Airline's Terminal C Parking Garage at Newark Airport in New Jersey.

The design and construction of the structure was made especially challenging due to several unique requirements: site limitations of an already busy and built-up airport property, eighty-foot spans over Terminal C's roadway, an "open feel" desired for the garage's appearance, three exterior spiral ramps, and design requirements for future expansion.

To maximize the use of space on the available land designated for garage construction, an irregular footprint was utilized. The garage's north elevation follows the curve of the roadway serving the adjacent terminal. Curved, sandblasted precast spandrels bear on round, 42-inch diameter precast columns along this elevation. The garage's south elevation is skewed alongside an existing surface parking lot.

Eighty-foot long beam spans are used for floor and roof support over the terminal roadway. Four-foot deep structural steel sections with a composite cast-in-place concrete topping are spanning the roadway and support precast, prestressed double tee members.

To achieve an "open feel" to the structure, very few shear walls were utilized. Precast moment-resisting frames provide the primary lateral stability for the structure. Large uplift and shear forces are resisted with up to forty-two #14 rebars spliced with the Lenton system. Furthermore, floor-to-floor heights of 11-feet 9-inches are provided adding to the "open" effect. Open airspaces, termed "light-wells", are provided in two areas of the parking garage. These light-wells are 40-feet wide and 180-feet long, providing abundant natural light to the garage and adding to the overall "open" feel of the structure.

Three visually stunning spiral ramps are located at the southeast corner of the structure. The ramps are cast-in-place concrete construction with curved precast spandrels wrapping the exteriors. Structurally each ramp is freestanding and provides its own stability and gravity load support independent of the parking structure. The ramps provide efficient traffic flow while at the same time add to the aesthetic appeal of the garage.

Prismatic Development Corporation, of Fairfax, New Jersey, provided general contracting for this design-build project. The Consulting Engineers Group, San Antonio, Texas served as the project's "Engineer of Record" and provided all foundation and superstructure design. Clarke Canton Hintz Architects from Trenton, New Jersey handled architectural design. Yu & Associates from Elmwood Park, New Jersey served as the project's Civil Engineer. High Concrete Structures from Denver, Pennsylvania supplied the precast, prestressed concrete.

Communication and cooperation among the team members was critical to the project's success. Coordination meetings were held throughout the design process. Parking layouts were modified, framing was tweaked, and column and frame locations were shifted to accommodate each team memberÕs requirements as well as the overall project objectives. Construction commenced in three separate stages so that no more than 400 parking spaces on the existing surface lot were taken out of service at any given time. Once completed, each portion of the staged construction was opened for public service. The overall construction phasing was a great success, resulting in a beautiful, well-functioning parking structure completed on schedule at one of the nation's busiest airports.