Five iconic construction projects that are shaping U.S. cities
History is shaped in many ways. At Skanska, it takes place through building iconic construction projects, delivering pioneering structures and writing a story of ‘firsts’ in cities across the U.S. From California to New York, and in between, here are five Skanska projects that have made their mark in history and are shaping today’s built environment in groundbreaking ways.
Envisioning the future of a famous viaduct
Sixth Street Viaduct
Los Angeles, California
The Sixth Street Viaduct has been a Los Angeles landmark since it was originally constructed in 1932. Over the years, the 3,500-foot bridge was used as a filming location for a variety of commercials, music videos, TV shows and iconic movies, including “Grease,” “Terminator 2: Judgement Day,” “The Dark Knight Rises” and “Gone in 60 Seconds.”
Skanska, in a joint venture with Stacy Witbeck along with design firm HNTB, worked to demolish and replace the viaduct beginning in 2017.
The road to replacing the viaduct was as much about revisiting the past as it was about contributing to the history and cultural significance of Los Angeles. The new viaduct was the largest bridge project in the city’s history at the time of construction.
Now complete, it remains a vital connection between Downtown LA, the Arts District and the historic Boyle Heights neighborhood, while still nodding to its original form through sweeping arches. These distinctive arches earned it a fitting new nickname: the “Ribbon of Light.”
Charting the course for mass timber in construction
Portland International Airport Terminal Core Redevelopment
Portland, Oregon
As mass timber gains momentum as a popular material for builders and architects around the globe, Skanska gets to shape its story in the context of aviation.
Most notably, Skanska, Hoffman Construction Company and ZGF Architects are pioneering the mass timber movement through ongoing work on the Portland International Airport (PDX) Terminal Core Redevelopment project.
In 2024, the project team completed Phase One of the terminal expansion, setting a record in the process.
The PDX expansion is the largest mass timber project of its kind, featuring a nine-acre mass timber roof that uses approximately 3.5 million board feet of wood sourced from within a 300-mile radius of the airport. The plywood and glulam canopy sits atop 34 giant Y-shaped columns, which hold the 18-million-pound roof in place.
Hoffman Skanska Joint Venture prefabricated the roof at a prefabrication yard west of the terminal. There, 14 rectangular pieces were created to form the roof’s final structure. Upon completion, crews moved each piece approximately one mile across the airfield to the Terminal, using remote-controlled, Self-Propelled Modular Transporters by Mammoet—a process captured in this timelapse video.
Traveling east to the center of the country, the story of mass timber ‘firsts’ continues.
Where sound meets sustainability
Cincinnati Public Radio, New Headquarters
Cincinnati, Ohio
In April 2025, Skanska completed the first mass timber broadcast facility in the country: Cincinnati Public Radio’s $32 million headquarters.
The 35,000-square-foot building, which is also Cincinnati’s first mass timber development, used Cross-Laminated Timber to reduce carbon emissions. In total, 498 pieces of mass timber were erected in just 37 days. The timber, sourced from black spruce trees aged between 80 to 100 years old, reflects the unique environmental conditions of their growth region, lending the building both strength and character.
Inside, the space balances function with thoughtful design. It includes two fully equipped on-air studios, a dedicated podcast suite, a performance space and an open office layout that encourages collaboration.
To create the best possible acoustic environment, soundproofing was a priority from day one. That attention to detail shows up throughout the space: from laminated glass layered into interior walls, to carefully placed windows that flood rooms with natural light without compromising sound control.
Cincinnati Public Radio’s new headquarters set a new standard, not just for the city, but for how sustainable design and technical performance can go hand in hand in the world of broadcasting.
Shaping the future for a global hospitality brand
Signia by Hilton Atlanta
Atlanta, Georgia
History is as much about looking back, as it is about imagining a more connected tomorrow.
For Hilton Worldwide, launching a new hotel brand meant more than introducing a fresh new look. It was about reimagining what modern hospitality could be. In early 2024, that vision came to life with the debut of a new upscale brand, Signia by Hilton in downtown Atlanta.
Skanska, in partnership with SG Contracting, helped bring the first new build Signia hotel to the skyline—a major milestone for Hilton and for the city itself. Not only was it the flagship location of Hilton’s new brand, but it was also the largest hotel project Atlanta had seen in four decades.
Towering 42 stories high and overlooking Mercedes-Benz Stadium and State Farm Arena, the hotel offers 976 guest rooms and suites. Guests can enjoy a rooftop pool, an atrium bar, even the largest ballroom in Georgia, all thoughtfully designed to elevate both business and leisure travel.
Getting to this point wasn’t easy. The team built the hotel atop the foundations of the former Georgia Dome while managing construction around Atlanta’s busy sports and entertainment district, all during the uncertainties of a global pandemic. Every challenge required a solution and every solution brought the team closer together.
More than just a building, the new Signa by Hilton represents resilience, collaboration and a bold step forward for the future of hospitality.
Revitalizing the world’s busiest motor vehicle bridge
George Washington Bridge
New York, New York
Over the Hudson River, connecting New York and New Jersey, sits the world’s busiest bridge: George Washington Bridge, colloquially known as “The George.”
Since 2018, Skanska has worked to swap out all 592 cables on the bridge that has long set the record for being the world’s busiest. In March 2025, the project team replaced the final steel rope, a significant milestone, years in the making.
Before being replaced, the existing cables had been in use since the iconic bridge first opened to traffic in 1931. Since then, the volume of cars traversing the bridge has only skyrocketed. The George Washington Bridge has the greatest vehicular capacity of any bridge in the world, carrying approximately 106 million vehicles per year according to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.
In 1981, the American Society of Civil Engineers designated the George Washington Bridge a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark. The designation recognizes a project’s unique contribution to the field of civil engineering, its impact on development and its lasting significance.
The suspender rope replacement work comes at a notable time in the bridge’s history—its 100th birthday is around the corner. Additionally, the steel rope revitalization work advances the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey’s $2 billion Restoring the George program, which is central to writing a promising next chapter for the historic bridge.
Dive deeper into our portfolio of iconic projects and see how we're shaping the future of cities across the U.S.