The FAA has broken ground on a new control tower at North Carolina’s Charlotte Douglas International Airport, which currently has the nation’s fifth busiest tower. Scheduled for completion by 2018 and to begin operations by 2020, the new 370-foot-tall structure will be equipped with next-generation air transportation technology such as the Standard Terminal Automation Replacement System (Stars), data communications, ADS-B and the Advanced Electronic Flight Strip System (AEFS).
The tower’s 850-sq-ft control cab will have enough room to accommodate future air traffic controller positions, while the 42,000-sq-ft base building will house training rooms, administrative offices and an expanded terminal radar approach control.
The price tag for the project—equipment, installation, training costs and the removal of the old tower—will be approximately $112 million. The new tower will be the second tallest in the National Airspace System, behind the 398-foot tower at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.