Steel framing begins for TPA's Airside D

Tampa International Airport's Airside D is now heading skyward with a big helping hand from a new construction crane that is assisting workers with assembling the massive steel frame of the building.

The crane, with a lifting capacity of 300 tons, was assembled onsite this month and began lifting steel into place this week. It's the beginning of a nine-month-long process to create the bones of the future 16-gate Airside.

Workers will be moving more than 7,300 steel members weighing a cumulative 6,200 tons as they are delivered to the construction site. The crane will lift the members into position one at a time to be secured in place by workers.

The assembly will be done in a series of 19 sequences that will allow the crane to move into position and build a specific portion of the building's frame before moving to the next part of the structure. A 20th sequence will build Airside D's cooling towers.

The work to erect the steel will involve more than 96,000 bolts and over 212,000 inches of welding. The buildout will continue as the framing is completed, with a second crane coming later this year to help.

GMF Steel Group, based in Lakeland, is fabricating the steel beams and columns that were first cast by steel suppliers, mostly from recycled steel scrap. GMF prepares the steel for installation by cutting it to the proper length, adding holes and welding on connections before delivering it to the construction site to be erected for the framework.

TPA broke ground on Airside D in December 2024, with construction scheduled to be open to the public in 2029. The design-build team for the project is led by construction company Hensel Phelps, with architecture and engineering company HNTB Corporation, in association with Gensler.

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