Originally Posted by
FlyBitcoin
Makes you wonder why they made D so narrow compared to T-A-B-C? In the early 1980's, the main tenants (DL and EA) split A,B, and C and all others were relegated to D
No connecting traffic flow in D?
Still, why not just build them all the same?
A and the south end of B were built to DL's specs, C and the north end of B were built to EA's specs (Have you ever notice the change in level in B just south of the centerpoint? Or the Eastern tunnel shortcut from B to C and midway up the north half of the concourses.)
D was built for O&D traffic for everybody else. With the exception of the brief period when TW had a mini-hub at ATL, D never really had connecting traffic until DL expanded into the north half.
If D concourse was 5ft wider and it is roughly 1/4 mile long and construction costs were $300/sf (these are all WAGS), then you've increased construction costs by nearly $2m. Whatever the actual figures were in the late 70s when it was built, it would still have been a substantial extra cost.