Bozeman Airport Inline Baggage System
Baggage Solutions for an Active Airport
The Gallatin Airport Authority hired Morrison-Maierle to assist with the Bozeman Airport Inline Baggage System update project. As the busiest airport in Montana and the fastest-growing airport in the nation, it handles 2.4 million passengers each year. And the growth isn’t slowing down; from 2018 to 2022, both baggage and passengers have increased by approximately 16% a year.
The project’s primary purpose included updating baggage scanners and other equipment, improving overall security, and increasing baggage handling efficiency. With a modern and upgraded system, the Bozeman airport hopes to better serve the multitude of travelers on their way to the many attractions located in the Gallatin Valley.
Keeping the airport fully operational throughout construction was especially challenging because of the dual peak seasons the airport serves—summer traffic headed to Yellowstone National Park and winter traffic headed to nearby Big Sky Ski Resort and Bridger Bowl Ski Area. To minimize impacts on the traveling public, the project had to be designed to be constructed during the airport’s off hours. And with flights starting at 5:30 a.m. and arriving until midnight, for certain project elements, we could only work within a short window.
Services and Highlights
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Electrical
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Information and communications technology/access control and PA
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Lead consultant/project management
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Mechanical
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Plumbing
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Structural
A Skier’s Favorite Airport
With nearly 6,000 skiable acres and 320 runs, Big Sky Resort is a world-renowned ski resort located just one hour from the Bozeman airport. Another nearby resort, Bridger Bowl, has an additional 2,500 acres of terrain. Because of its close proximity to these resorts, the Bozeman airport gets significant skier traffic throughout the winter months. To accommodate the high volume of ski luggage, we installed one of the only baggage systems in the United States that is designed to handle skis.
In most airports, ski equipment is considered oversized and needs to go through a special machine away from the rest of the baggage processing equipment. At the Bozeman airport, every belt in the new baggage system is designed to handle skis. This required designing the space to accommodate wider turns, more belts, and fewer jams. The scanning machines also allow for bags up to 92 inches—vs. the more standard 36-inch requirement—reducing wait times and streamlining the travel experience for traveling skiers.
Design for Now and the Future
Airports are frequently under construction, and when one project starts, design teams must consider what’s next. Previous terminal expansions, one between 2009 and 2011 and another in 2020, were designed to accommodate this baggage project. We took that same approach with this update.
We built flexibility into every part of our design so that the airport could ultimately adjust and grow as the airport and community grow. On the mechanical side, we replaced three boilers and added a fourth to deal with the increasing load and higher variability required for the new baggage system space. The piping system was also modified to include connection points for another future terminal building expansion. This foresight—added into a separate project—will help the airport to stay functional for longer than if its holistic needs weren’t taken into consideration.
After this project, the airport has a modern baggage screening system with three explosive detection units and nine outbound baggage sortation belts that can treat oversized ski gear as regular luggage. With flexibility built into every part of our design, the airport is set up to respond to the ever-changing needs of a growing community.
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