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The Sacramento International Airport is one “significant step” closer to getting a new air traffic control tower, nearly two decades after planning began for a replacement.
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The Federal Aviation Administration on Sept. 19 awarded a $148.8 million contract to Walsh Federal, a Chicago-based construction company, to design and build the tower. Construction is expected to begin in summer 2027 and continue through February 2030, the Sacramento County Department of Airports said in a news release.
The contract marks the latest turn in a replacement effort that dates at least to 2009, when the FAA completed modeling and selected a site for a future tower at the airport, according to previous Bee reporting and county records. In 2023, Sacramento County supervisors authorized an agreement with the FAA to reserve the proposed site while the agency conducted obstruction, security and environmental reviews.
The new 192-foot tower will replace the existing control tower, which has operated since 1967 and has operational and accessibility limitations, the department said. The current tower stands 130 feet tall just south of Terminal B, while county officials said in 2023 that the replacement was planned for an unobstructed site on the airport’s north side near Fire Station 98, which opened in 2022.
The existing tower has long presented other problems. The Bee reported in 2015 that it had outdated electrical wiring, lacked accessibility for employees with disabilities and did not meet modern security setback or California earthquake-safety standards. The construction of Terminal B also partially obstructed controllers’ views of two taxiways.
The replacement would give air traffic controllers better views of the airfield and two of the airport’s three FAA-designated “hot spots,” areas where pilots and controllers are advised to use heightened attention because of a history or potential risk of runway incursions or collisions. The new tower would also improve security by limiting public access near Earhart Drive and Delta Road, two streets monitored by security guards and not used by the general public.
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“The new tower … will accommodate SMF’s growth, including the airport’s planned terminal and taxiway changes, by providing air traffic controllers with clear airfield views,” an FAA spokesperson said in an emailed statement. “Additionally, it will provide room for newer surveillance, communications and surface-management technologies as we continue to modernize the National Airspace System.”
The project has also become substantially more expensive and taken longer than officials once expected. In 2023, Sacramento County estimated the tower would cost $60 million to $80 million and said construction was expected to be completed in 2026. The contract awarded this month totals nearly twice the high end of that estimate and runs into 2030.
County records said the FAA would fund construction, operation and maintenance of the replacement tower, with no financial impact to the airport’s enterprise fund.
“We have been ready for this investment for many years, and we are excited to see the project move from planning toward construction,” Harry Barrett Jr., assistant director of airports for Sacramento County, said in the release.
Sacramento International is one of eight airports nationwide selected for new tower construction as part of an FAA initiative to modernize aging air traffic infrastructure. The program is supported in part by $5 billion allocated to the FAA Air Traffic Organization under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, signed into law in 2021.
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