BergerWorld: 4th Quarter 2006

The Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT) Aeronautics Division supervises the planning, development and maintenance of 83 airports throughout Arizona. The Berger Group was retained by ADOT to provide planning, programming and related services to airports and ancillary facilities throughout the state. Berger's initial assignments included the development of an ADOT Aeronautics Division website as well as launching a new ARFF training facility.

Berger assisted the Aeronautics Division of ADOT with the posting of hardcopy library documents to the new website. The Team collected several hundred documents consisting of more than 20,000 pages, scanned each page electronically and archived them in PDF format. The published documents included technical reports, airport layout plans, and informative pamphlets and brochures. The completion of this assignment resulted in the development of over 1,000 unique web pages at www.dot.state.az.us/aviation, which were presented to the Arizona Airports Association at its semi-annual conference. Berger also completed an extensive regional ARFF training facility site selection, feasibility study and environmental review for ADOT. The proposed facility would provide state-of-the-art training in the latest airport firefighting and rescue techniques for aircraft rescue and firefighting crews from airports and municipalities throughout Arizona and the southwestern United States. Berger experts analyzed state-wide and regional demand for the proposed training facility to determine the appropriate size of the venue, likely participants and equipment requirements.

During the assignment, Berger organized a Planning Advisory Committee (PAC) of airport and fire department personnel as well as other aviation industry experts and stakeholders, and solicited input from the PAC at critical points in the project's development. Several sites throughout the state were examined to determine the best location for the regional ARFF training facility. The existing City of Phoenix Fire Department Training Academy in South Central Phoenix was subsequently selected as the most appropriate site. The Berger team then provided ADOT with site layout drawings, cost estimates and an environmental review of the impacts of constructing and operating the facility at the proposed Phoenix location.