The latest, temporary addition to Chicago O’Hare International Airport’s 7,200-acre campus is a 14-story Potain tower crane, erected to support ongoing construction of the $1.5 billion new Concourse D.
“This tower crane is more than a new feature on O'Hare's skyline," said Chicago Department of Aviation Commissioner Michael McMurray. "It is a powerful and highly visible symbol of the progress we are making on the new Concourse D."
For a closer look at the crane's erection and work at the airport, check out the video below from the Chicago Department of Aviation:
The top-slewing crane is being used to move materials including rebar, concrete and pipe in an unfinished basement portion of the new concourse and provides a better, safer vantage point for working in that space than other types of cranes, according to the airport.
Once the new concourse is finished in late 2028, it will be one of Chicago’s first domestic-international codeshare concourses and become the airport’s largest new passenger facility built in over 30 years. The final 590,000-square-foot structure will feature 19 gates, a 150-foot-long wide-span roof, 20,000 square feet of lounge space, 30,000 square feet of commercial space, a 450-square-foot children’s play area and a 40-foot-high atrium-like space connecting the building’s three levels.
Powered byConstruction of the new concourse began in August 2025 and falls under the city’s $8.8 billion ORDNext core terminal modernization plan, which has also budgeted for a second new concourse in the future.
The project’s contract was awarded to AECOM Hunt Clayco Bowa and, with a $1.455 billion price cap, will be built at least $21 million below its approved budget. The new Concourse D was designed by Chicago-based firm Skidmore, Owings & Merrill in partnership with Ross Barney Architects, JGMA and Arup.
Potain tower cranes are manufactured by Manitowoc, which this year debuted new cranes under its other brands: the Grove GMK8700 all-terrain crane and the National Crane NTC80 boom truck.
