This series charts the exclusive inside story of the 8-billion-dollar race to build America’s first major new airport in 25 years. 30 million passengers a year pass through LaGuardia Airport in New York, but this critical hub is run down and over capacity, causing delays. Over the course of 9 years, 7000 architects, engineers and construction workers must attempt the impossible; rebuild the entire airport from the ground up, to create a state-of-the-art, fully unified facility, without affecting its operation.
LaGuardia Airport is hemmed in by river and roads, so designers must push the limits of a tight site by building as tall as possible. This means a vast 120-foot-long escalator is needed to move passengers between floors. But the install hangs precariously in the balance. Below ground the team battles to prevent devastating floods, while above, they build a world-first; twin 450-foot-long pedestrian bridges that allow aircraft to pass beneath.
Construction crews battle to stay on schedule; they must build new gates before they tear down the old or operations will grind to a halt. The team digs foundations for a new concourse 200-feet deep into reclaimed land but hits trouble that could delay the build. New York ironworkers fight to connect their biggest truss yet, which will form the terminal’s grand entrance, while flocking waterfowl threaten to bring down aircraft.
The new LaGuardia Airport must be a highly efficient passenger and plane processing machine but the worst snowstorm in five years brings construction and operations to a grinding halt. The team races to complete Terminal B and its twin pedestrian bridges in time for the grand opening, while brand new high-tech baggage screening and handling systems, key to the success of the new airport, must be installed and tested.
| Executive Producers | Carlo Massarella , Jane McGoldrick |
| Series Producer & Director | Joby Lubman |
| Line Producer | Farne Sinclair |
| Director of Photography | Michael Cimpher |
| Editors | Anne Tillyer , Paul Berry |
| New York Producer | Selina Tso |
| Additional Camera | Mat Stimpson , Phil Holmes , Owen Strock |
| Assistant Producer | Marissa Chazan |
| Production Coordinators | Lily Kiang , Ben Church |