Cotter worked with the O’Hare Fuel Committee (OFC) and project stakeholders on the North Transmission Mains and South Transmission Mains of the Fuel System Improvement Program (FSIP), as part of the O’Hare Modernization Program (OMP), an airport-wide plan to improve airport facilities. The OMP airfield reconfiguration would have resulted in runways and taxiways over shallow existing fuel lines that are not deep enough to withstand loading from plane traffic. Combined with the inaccessibility to service these lines, a complete overhaul of the fuel system was necessary.

For the North Transmission Mains, Cotter provided field inspection and engineering services, overseeing day-to-day installations at the job site. Cotter field engineers ensured that all contractors used approved materials, all pumped fuel went through a filtering system, and that all safety requirements were being met. Cotter monitored and verified that all construction was done per plan, assuring pipes were installed at correct elevations and locations and with proper pitch, backfill was compacted and tested, asphalt placed at correct lift thickness and passed compaction tests, pipe joints passed x-ray tests, pipe passed roughness requirements prior to coating, pipe coatings passed thickness testing, concrete met spec, and flushing was performed per specifications. Throughout the project, Cotter closely monitored the installation and material testing to ensure there was no negative impact to air and ground traffic. Phase 1 was completed in 2018.

Work began in early 2019 on the South Transmission Mains. In addition to the tasks completed on the North Transmission Mains, Cotter Project Manager Ryan Bartecki is overseeing the removal and abandonment of existing fuel lines once the final connections to new lines have been made.