PORT OF SEATTLE

MEMORANDUM

DATE: June 30, 2011

State and Local Taxes: $48,000 Jobs Created: 30 (Total Project)

Total Estimated Cost: $2,109,000

ACTION REQUESTED:

Request Port Commission authorization for the Chief Executive Officer to 1) proceed with the

design of phase 1 of the Airfield Lighting Control and Monitoring System (ALCMS) project; 2)

execute purchases and authorize Port Construction Services (PCS) and Port crews to self-

perform work for phase 1 of the project; and 3) execute a contract for the phase 2 consultant,

hardware purchase, and resulting software upgrades. The total cost of the ALCMS Upgrades

project at the SeaTac International Airport (Airport) is $2,109,000. This request seeks a single

Commission authorization to move forward with design and construction of phase 1, selection of

lighting control system. This authorization is for both phases of the project. Phase 1 includes

design and construction work in two areas; installing improved communication cable in a looped

arrangement beneath the airfield, and raising a radio antenna to improve emergency back-up

communication capability if the underground cable system ever fails. The phase 1 field work

includes both design and construction because the work is weather dependent and needs to be

completed during the dry season of this summer and fall. Phase 2 of the project is not weather

dependent and includes programming design, hardware purchase and installation, and necessary

final testing.

COMMISSION AGENDA

System (ILS) by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on all three runways at the Airport

by 2005. The FAA owns and operates the radar component of these instrument landing systems,

while the Port owns and operates the airfield surface lighting systems that work in concert with

the ILS. Without such systems during periods of low visibility, flights must be re-routed.

The proposed upgrade of the airfield lighting control system will greatly reduce the possibility of

a system failure during low visibility weather that would result in aircraft being diverted to

Portland, Moses Lake, or Vancouver, BC, which would cause disruption to travelers and extra

costs for our customer airlines in Seattle. Improvement of the Airport’s lighting system is

necessary to boost reliability and compliance with FAA regulations. This request is for a total

project estimated at $2,109,000.

system is experiencing periodic interruptions and must be upgraded to meet FAA response

requirements. The system is beyond its design limitations and has a demonstrated history of

interruptions in the Aircraft Traffic Control Tower (ATCT). This has resulted in over $100,000

of additional maintenance staffing costs since 2008.

To ensure reliability of the system in low visibility conditions, it is necessary to perform the

phase 1 field work during the fair weather summer months. As a result, this request includes

both design and construction work to occur this season. This season’s work includes design,

ordering necessary equipment, trenching for additional electrical and communication cables,

raising the height of the back-up communication antenna to ensure it has adequate line-of-sight

connectivity above large aircraft to the ATCT, and various connections to equipment and control

antenna, which will improve the backup radio communications between the Lighting Vault and

the ACTC.

Phase 2 work consists of programming and hardware installation. Staff will advertise, select and

contract with a consultant to perform the phase 2 work during the following year. This

authorization includes the approval and budget to award contracts.

These ALCMS upgrades and improvements must be in compliance with FAA requirements.

COMMISSION AGENDA

PROJECT JUSTIFICATION:

This project to upgrade the existing ALCMS is necessary in order to stabilize the system’s

performance and ensure compliance with FAA regulatory requirements. It improves ALCMS

communication outages and system lockup.

Existing ALCMS communication monitoring, as designed in 1999 and installed by 2005, is

inefficient and does not accurately reflect airfield conditions in real time as required by FAA

Advisory Circular 150/5345-56. The Airport’s ALCMS software code needs to be redesigned to

Past airfield projects did not consistently upgrade the ALCMS hardware and software resulting

in a lack of ALCMS processing speed and storage. Past projects used varying programming

logic and architecture, which ultimately has affected system performance and reliability while

adding undue complexity to the system. Past software upgrades did not meet program

documentation requirements, thereby making future ALCMS program designs more difficult.

The result is a system that intermittently does not meet the regulatory intent of Federal Aviation

PROJECT SCOPE OF WORK AND SCHEDULE:

The project is divided into two phases, each with a separate defined scope and schedule. They

are as follows:

 Phase 1: Existing multi-mode fiber will be replaced with single mode, and the existing

radio antenna mounted on the north wall of the Airfield Lighting Vault will be relocated

to a new 60-foot antenna. This work will be performed by Port crews and small works

contractors. Estimated Cost: $965,500.

 Phase 2: An FAA-certified consultant will be selected to optimize the ALCMS

programming to comply with existing FAA requirements. The design and hardware

COMMISSION AGENDA

Schedule:

Phase 1 Design July 2011

Procurement of Material July-August 2011

Budget Status and Source of Funds:

This project was included in the 2011-2015 capital budget and plan of finance as a business plan

prospective project, under CIP #C800415 with a budget of $1.125 million. The budget was

increased because staff decided to provide airfield lighting control redundancy by encircling the

entire airfield with fiber optic cable, updating the original budget to reflect material inflation, and

applying new markups to reflect current procedures. The budget increase has been transferred

from CIP #C102166, Aeronautical Renewal & Replacement, resulting in no change to the

Aviation capital budget. The funding source will be the Airport Development Fund.

COMMISSION AGENDA

Financial Analysis and Summary:

COMMISSION AGENDA

alternative.