To meet the parking needs identified in the Airport Master Plan, the Greater Asheville Regional Airport Authority and Delta embarked on a multi-phase program to determine if the construction of an automobile parking garage was feasible for Asheville Regional Airport (AVL). The Airport had tried in the past to complete a program to construct a parking garage; however, due to poor soils and high estimated construction costs, the program was cancelled. With this knowledge, Delta initiated a first phase of the program to evaluate general subsurface conditions, at two potential garage sites, with respect to possible current foundation system technology. This investigation confirmed that the foundation for a garage was not expected to be cost prohibitive due to advancement in footing construction technology.
Although the selected site for the garage provides a great level of service to the parking customer upon completion, actual construction of the garage within the footprint of an already crowded parking lot created construction phasing issues due to the proximity of the construction to the parking lot toll plaza and automobile travel lanes from the remaining surface parking transitioning immediately adjacent to and across construction traffic.
Significant coordination and alternate parking locations were identified as part of the design phase to minimize impact of the work on the traveling public. Construction of the 1,500-space, five story parking facility began in October, 2016, and was completed in the fall of 2017 in time for the holiday traffic.