The United Airlines Technical Operations Center project at George Bush IAH consisted of a 250,000 SF hangar/administration facility, 550,000 SF apron/taxi lane with 1MM SF of additional paving, parking and roadway areas and associated utilities. RINER was selected to perform the construction materials testing for the project through a competitive evaluation process implemented by United Airlines and VRX, Inc.

The CMT inspection scope for the building included monitoring of over 50,000 CY of building pad earthwork, spread footing foundations, slab on grade and elevated deck concrete, conventional reinforcing steel inspections, structural steel inspections, fireproofing, and roofing materials. The CMT inspection scope for the aircraft apron/taxi lane included monitoring of FAA-compliant 20-inch thick aircraft pavement with chemically stabilized subgrade, chemically treated base materials and asphalt. Initial work at the hangar area was complicated by the presence of chemical contamination in the site soils requiring RINER’s field technicians to undergo OHSHA 40-hour hazardous waste operations training and monitoring for potential benzene exposure. The overall project scope included work at seven remote “enabling” project sites within IAH airport necessitated by various operations displaced by the new hangar structure.

The project was completed in 2020 with an aggressive construction schedule, requiring RINER to monitor work being performed concurrently by multiple utility and concrete contractors across the site and the various enabling project sites. RINER maintained a field inspection staff of up to five individuals covering a 24 hour per day operations on both landside and airside areas.