Turner’s ConRAC case study shows how early structural, crane and airport coordination placed six escalators in one day at the $156 million facility that opened in July 2026.
Gerald R. Ford International Airport’s new Consolidated Rental Car Facility centralises rental-car operations and connects directly with the terminal through a climate-controlled skywalk.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
- Turner says six escalators were lowered through temporary roof openings and set into their final positions in a single day, avoiding an internal multilevel hoisting operation.
- The $156 million ConRAC opened on July 9, 2026 as Michigan’s first consolidated airport rental-car facility, linking rental operations to the terminal by climate-controlled skywalk.
- The escalators arrived in three sections per unit and were assembled on site over about six weeks, with laser verification and framing adjustments completed before the lift.
- Early coordination among structural, roofing, crane, engineering and airport teams kept the installation on schedule and allowed the building to be enclosed quickly afterward.
(NEWS) GRAND RAPIDS, Michigan, United States, 2026-Aug-31 — /Travel PR News/ — A one-day crane operation that lowered six escalators through temporary openings in an unfinished roof has offered a rare look at the construction planning behind a smoother rental-car journey at Gerald R. Ford International Airport.
The installation formed part of the airport’s new Consolidated Rental Car Facility, or ConRAC, which opened to the public on July 9, 2026. The $156 million project is Michigan’s first consolidated airport rental-car facility and brings customer counters, vehicle pickup and return, cleaning and fueling functions into a purpose-built complex linked to the passenger terminal.
In an August 28 case study, Turner detailed how the project team turned the building’s incomplete roof into a temporary delivery route for the escalators. The method allowed each unit to be lowered directly into its final level rather than moved through the structure after more of the building had been completed.
A passenger facility shaped by behind-the-scenes logistics
The new Gerald R. Ford International Airport Consolidated Rental Car Facility combines a four-story Ready/Return parking structure and customer service functions with a three-story Quick Turnaround Facility, or QTA. A climate-controlled skywalk connects the rental-car complex directly with the terminal, reducing the amount of time passengers spend moving between the airport and vehicle collection areas.
At the June ribbon cutting, Turner described the ConRAC as a facility with more than 1,000 rental-car parking spaces, while the QTA provides 32 fueling and vacuum stations and eight car-wash tunnels. The airport has also said the consolidated operation is designed to remove more than 90% of rental-car activity from its roadway system, cut vehicle travel by about 600,000 miles a year and reduce associated carbon emissions by an estimated 500,000 pounds annually. Up to 90% of water used for car washing is intended to be recycled, and the infrastructure has been designed to accommodate future growth in electric vehicles.
Those passenger and environmental benefits depended on solving a series of construction sequencing problems before the facility could open. Escalator installation was one of the more complex examples because the team had to coordinate structural steel, roof decking, roofing, crane access, equipment assembly, transportation routes, rigging, safety requirements and airport operating constraints around a single lift sequence.
Why the roof became the delivery route
Turner said the roof-lift approach had been considered from the earliest planning stages. An alternative method would have involved bringing the escalators through the building and lifting them internally, which could have required additional analysis of floor loading, specialised multilevel hoisting systems and potentially extra structural steel to carry concentrated lifting loads.
Using roof openings instead allowed the crew to place the escalators directly at the required levels, beginning with the lowest units and progressing upward. To make that possible, portions of structural steel, decking and roofing had to remain temporarily incomplete while the team established staging areas, equipment routes, crane positioning and the order of lifts.
As installation approached, the project team also found differences between the structural design and the dimensional requirements shown in the escalator shop drawings. The team used laser measurements to confirm the openings in the field and worked with the structural engineer and steel contractor on the necessary framing adjustments. According to Turner, the issue was resolved before the scheduled installation and did not delay the work.
Six weeks of assembly for one day of lifting
Each escalator arrived at the site in three sections rather than as one fully assembled unit. The sections were assembled in a protected laydown area over approximately six weeks, a strategy that reduced the difficulty of transporting full-length escalators and gave crews enough space to prepare several units at the same time.
Once assembly and dimensional checks were complete, the team finalised the crane location, rigging, lift sequence, safety controls, airport notifications and temporary protection plan. The crane remained below the height of the tower crane that had already been permitted for the project, allowing the operation to stay within established aviation constraints.
The airport was nevertheless notified about the crane’s location, operating duration, visibility requirements and potential implications for air traffic control. That coordination was important because construction equipment operating near active airport facilities can affect both airside procedures and the timing of work on the ground.
All six escalators were then lowered through the roof and set into their final positions in a single day. The units were immediately wrapped in heavy-duty plastic while structural steel, decking and roofing work continued above them. Steel and roofing contractors had been sequenced in advance so the building could be enclosed quickly and exposure to weather kept to a minimum.
Turner said the installation was completed without delaying the project schedule. The roof strategy eliminated the need to move the escalators through a more complete building, build an internal multilevel hoisting system or add reinforcement solely to support the lifting operation. The contractor did not quantify the financial saving but described the method as a cost-saving approach for the owner and the most efficient option for the project’s design conditions.
What the lift says about airport construction planning
The case study’s broader lesson is less about escalators than about sequencing. By choosing the installation method during preconstruction, the project team could treat the structural frame, roofing work, equipment installation and crane operation as one integrated activity rather than a series of separate tasks.
Field verification also proved critical. Comparing shop drawings with actual opening dimensions before the lift allowed framing changes to be made while they were still manageable, reducing the risk of discovering a dimensional conflict with a crane and assembled equipment already in position.
The project also underlined the value of adequate on-site assembly space and early airport coordination. Establishing crane heights, operating locations and notification requirements in advance helped the team fit the lift into the airport environment without disrupting operations, while temporary weather protection allowed the escalators to remain in place safely until the building envelope was finished.
Weather was one of the remaining variables. Turner noted that the escalators were installed during winter conditions, reinforcing a practical lesson for similar projects: where schedules allow, weather-sensitive lifts and open-roof work are better placed in drier, more predictable periods.
For passengers, most of that coordination remains invisible. The finished result is a centralised rental-car hub with a weather-protected terminal connection and a more compact servicing operation. For airport owners and contractors, however, the Grand Rapids installation shows how a decision made early in design can simplify a high-risk construction task and help protect the wider delivery schedule.
