The Daily Dig
The joint venture of AECOM Hunt, Clayco, and Bowa Construction has moved into vertical construction on the new Concourse D at O'Hare International Airport. The April 23 announcement confirmed the transition, following the completion of approximately 35% of foundational work, including more than 90% of the caissons, the large reinforced concrete shafts drilled deep into the ground for structural support.
The project is valued at $1.45 billion and will deliver a 580,000 square foot concourse with 19 gates designed for narrow-body aircraft on domestic and short-haul international routes. Eighteen of those gates can be converted to serve nine wide-body aircraft, giving the terminal meaningful operational flexibility. Passenger amenities include over 20,000 square feet of lounge space, 30,000 square feet of retail and dining, and a 450-square-foot children's play area.
The team will install a 195-foot tower crane at the center of the airfield in the coming weeks to support vertical construction of the 73-foot facility. This spring, contractors will also bring online a central cooling facility designed to serve all future ORDNext developments. Critical airfield paving and utility infrastructure work will run alongside to support upcoming program phases.
ORDNext is the largest terminal expansion in O'Hare's history, encompassing Concourse D, a future Concourse E, and a new global terminal to replace Terminal 2. The broader program traces back to an $8.5 billion airport expansion approved by the Chicago City Council in 2018. The city projects the full construction and infrastructure program will support more than 3,800 construction jobs.
Snapshot:
Project: New Concourse D, O'Hare International Airport
Program: ORDNext
Location: Chicago, Illinois
Owner/Client: Chicago Department of Aviation
Joint Venture: AECOM Hunt, Clayco, Bowa Construction
Construction Value: $1.45 billion
Square Footage: 580,000 SF
Gates: 19 (narrow-body); convertible to 9 wide-body configurations
Lounge Space: 20,000+ SF
Retail & Dining: 30,000 SF
Children's Play Area: 450 SF
Groundbreaking: August 2025
Current Milestone: Vertical construction commenced April 2026
Foundation Progress: 35% complete; 90%+ of caissons installed
Tower Crane Height: 195 feet
Facility Height: 73 feet
Workforce Impact: 3,800+ construction jobs projected (full ORDNext program)
Broader Program Value: $8.5 billion (full O'Hare expansion, approved 2018)
Next Phases: Concourse E, new global terminal replacing Terminal 2
TheJobWalk Thoughts
Caisson work at an active airport runs under tight airfield restrictions, which makes the foundation phase on a job like this harder to sequence than a comparable ground-up build. Getting through more than 90% of that work while the airport stays operational is a meaningful threshold. For subs tracking this program, the transition to vertical is the clearest signal yet that upper-phase scope is moving into range.
The cooling facility coming online this spring is designed to serve all future ORDNext developments, not just Concourse D. For MEP and controls contractors, that scope extends across a multi-phase program. If those conversations with the JV haven't started, they're worth starting now.
Chicago just broke ground on the $5.7 billion Red Line Extension the same week Concourse D went vertical. Two programs of this scale drawing from the same regional labor pool is a market condition worth building into any estimate for Chicago work in the near term.
