b'CONNECTING THE NORTHCredit: Thompson Regional Airport Authority.Thompson Airports new terminalBy Matthew BradfordPenn-co Construction Canada and theInternational Nickel Company toRather than attempting to salvage or Thompson Regional Airport Authoritysupport mining work in the region, wasrenovate the sinking building, TRAA (TRAA) are en route to bringing a newstarting to sink as a result of meltingdecided to develop a new terminal airline terminal to Manitobas hub ofpermafrost underneath the structure. to the southwest on a greenfield site the north. This past May, the teamnear the end of Thompson Airports kicked off the construction of a newThe old terminal was failing structurallyrunway, leaving the existing terminal facility for the Thompson Regionaland was outdated, undersized andin operation until the new facility Airport that will take over duties for theresting on top of a semi-permafrostbecomes available.existing terminal when it comes onlinezone, which affects the buildingPREPPING THE SITEin 2025. differently from one side to another,The new Thompson terminal has been The project got its start in 2007 whenmaking it very difficult to addresson TRAAs radar for some time. The TRAAs engineering reports revealedstructural concerns, says Jamieauthority spent considerable time that the original terminal, a 14,000- Froese, Project Manager with researching its potential site after sq.-ft. building originally built by thePenn-co Construction.deciding to go ahead with a new 40 BUILD MANITOBAwinnipegconstruction.ca'