Construction teams have installed the first pieces of steel for the HOK-designed curbside canopies at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.

Excerpted from The Atlanta Journal-Constitution:

The canopies will be made up of 38 trusses of steel rolled in Chicago, fabricated in Lubbock and assembled in Atlanta. Each truss will span about 195 feet to cover eight lanes of curbside roads and will soar more than 73 feet above the roadway.

Stretching from the parking garages to the terminal on each side of the building, one aim of the canopies is to shelter people walking from the garages to the terminal on new pedestrian bridges intended to increase safety and reduce traffic congestion.

The translucent covering of the canopies will be similar to that used on the roof on the new Mercedes-Benz Stadium: a plastic-like material known as ETFE, or ethylene tetrafluoroethylene.

The massive canopies will also be illuminated with 3,708 lights, creating what officials hope will be an iconic entrance for Hartsfield-Jackson.

“We will create a dramatic gateway to the world’s busiest airport,” said Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed at a press conference Thursday, adding that he thinks it will be “another architectural signature for the city of Atlanta.”