WILLISTON, North Dakota — Burns & McDonnell, a 100% employee-owned engineering, architecture and construction firm, served as the designer of record and on-site construction representative for several projects for the ground-up construction of the Williston Basin International Airport (XWA) in North Dakota. The airport began flights on Oct. 10.

The airport, which was constructed to serve increased commercial aircraft traffic and support the growing economy, will have two runways and a 110,000-square-foot terminal. The airport comprises four gates and three jet bridges, with the ability to accommodate 350,000 passengers annually. The city broke ground on the project in 2016.

“We’re thrilled to begin flights from the Williston Basin International Airport connecting passengers to domestic and international locations near and far,” says Anthony Dudas, airport director. “With a 22% increase in airport traffic expected this year, we anticipate more than 140,000 passengers to be supported by our new airport facility.” 

Dudas added, “Burns & McDonnell and Alliance Consulting helped us stay on schedule as they designed and constructed world-class infrastructure systems for our community’s airport.”

“We’re honored to provide aviation design and construction services for the Williston Basin International Airport,” says Gene Sieve, vice president and general manager for Burns & McDonnell in Minneapolis-St. Paul. “As we continue to expand our aviation capabilities in the Upper Midwest, we look forward to supporting the growing aviation infrastructure needs.”

As part of the ground-up airport project, Burns & McDonnell and Alliance Consulting designed and constructed:

• 50,000-square-yard general aviation apron and the supporting general aviation taxilane system and designed a greenfield crosswind runway.
• 5 miles of perimeter and access roads and 7 miles of 10-foot-tall wildlife perimeter fencing.
• Airfield electrical vault for the airport, including room for a generator sized to power all airfield lighting.
• Quick turnaround facility and rental car parking lots to serve three rental car vendors.
• Steel structures to support the medium intensity approach lighting with runway alignment indicator lights system for the primary runway.

“From providing design and construction services on a general aviation apron to designing critical electric systems, we brought an ongoing commitment to successful collaboration and project delivery,” says Andy Loftus, project manager and civil engineer for Burns & McDonnell. “We look forward to our continued partnership with the airport and community as they connect passengers to and from the region.”

Burns & McDonnell plans, designs and builds projects for aviation clients from offices across the country. The firm is ranked No. 4 in Airports by Engineering News-Record and has experience working at more than 350 airports around the world. In 2018, Burns & McDonnell completed more than $220 million in projects at large airports across the country.

About Burns & McDonnell

Founded by two entrepreneurs in 1898, Burns & McDonnell is a family of companies made up of 7,000 engineers, architects, construction professionals, scientists, consultants and entrepreneurs with offices across the country and throughout the world. We strive to create amazing success for our clients and amazing careers for our employee-owners. Burns & McDonnell is 100% employee-owned and is proud to be on Fortune’s 2019 list of 100 Best Companies to Work For.

About Alliance Consulting

Alliance Consulting was formed with a mission to create value in planning and design. Our multi-disciplinary project team is an alliance of not only engineers, planners, and technicians, but also writers, artists, and public relations specialists that are drawn from variety of professional backgrounds to give a global approach to projects. With offices in Utah and North Dakota, the company has completed award winning projects around the West while expanding into multiple sectors. Alliance Consulting believes that successful projects combine the perspective and understanding of multiple stakeholders, and that the reward of challenging projects is the transformation of a design into physical amenities that cultivate thriving communities.