Work to start soon on Nashville airport's new baggage-screening system
Nashville International Airport in a $31 million project to move the federally mandated explosive detection systems from the ticketing lobby to a space beneath the terminals
Construction will start soon on the next phase of construction of multi-million dollar underground luggage screening area at the Nashville International Airport. The $31 million project will move the federally mandated explosive detection systems from the ticketing lobby to a space beneath the terminals.
The Transportation Safety Administration (TSA) installed the EDS machines — and their cousins, explosive trace detectors — in the lobby in December 2002, following the 9/11 attacks to satisfy the federal government’s requirement that all checked luggage be screened for explosive materials.
In order to make room for these temporary changes, the ticket counters were moved out into the ticket lobby 11 feet and several additions and alterations also took place on the ticketing curbside.
Robert Ramsey, the airport’s director of design, said the project has the dual benefit of being a good security measure while increasing efficiency.”Certainly the new machines have better screening capability, but they also have faster output. … It means [the baggage] will have less contact with people,” he said. “This will automate the whole process.”
Ramsey said the changeover to the new machines in a new location “is a difficult project to phase” and the next step is the biggest. Because of that, work on the next step will not officially begin until after the holidays.
Most of the money for the transition came from federal homeland security grants. The entire project — which began in May — should be complete by November 2010.
