Client
Port of Portland
Robin McCaffrey, Project Manager
Construction Data
Budget: $5,000,000
Prime Consultant and Architect
DBC Architecture

Project Summary + Solution
The International Arrivals Hall at PDX has elevators and escalators that have reached the end of their service lives, but are still needed 24/7 for passengers to access the passport control, customs, and TSA checkpoint areas on the lower level of Concourse D. DBC was engaged to replace them while minimizing impacts to passengers, the existing building, and TSA Customs and Border Protection operations. We developed a multi-step phasing approach that was as integral to the project’s success as the design itself. An inclined platform lift installed on an existing staircase will facilitate the elevator upgrades, and once the elevators are modernized and more reliable, the escalators can finally be replaced. The new escalators will also be more energy-efficient, as they will be the first installation of on-demand escalators in the country, using CCTV-controlled motion detection to run the escalators only when passengers are present.