When: Wednesday, Sept. 8, 2010; 5:30 p.m. Social Hour; 6:30 p.m. Dinner; 7:30 p.m. Program

Where: Luminarias Restaurant, 3500 Ramona Dr., Monterey Park, CA

Topic: LAX Bradley West Terminal Expansion Project

Speaker: Steven Ball, S.E., Principal, John A. Martin & Associates, Los Angeles 

Abstract: As one of the nation's busiest airports, LAX is a vital gateway to and from Southern California and the world. It is also one of the region's most important economic engines. Mr. Ball will be speaking about the Bradley West Project which was designed by Fentress Architect and is the largest public works project in the City's history as well as the first major capital investment at LAX since 1984. The $1.545-billion project will create a new world-class terminal that will offer travelers 1.25 million square feet of new building area, including a Great Hall for premier shopping and dining, new airline lounge space, and enlarged customs facilities to speed up passenger processing. The project also includes new concourses containing 14 new boarding gates and enlarged seating/holdroom areas to accommodate new generation aircraft such as the Airbus A380 super jumbo jet and the Boeing B787 Dreamliner. In addition, this project is expected to create 4,000 construction-related jobs during the three year construction period. The new gates on the west side and the Great Hall are scheduled to be completed at the end of 2012. New gates on the eastside are expected to be finished in 2013. Mr. Ball will discuss the challenges of designing the new project with is large volume spaces, curved sloping roofs and the testing involved for the moment frame connections. Also included in the presentation will be challenges of meeting a tight design schedule and issues related to meeting a stringent construction schedule while the rest of the airport remains operational.