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Portland International Airport employees and various media members on Saturday got some of the first looks of the main terminal’s new nine-acre mass-timber roof 鈥� the centerpiece of the $2 billion PDX Next project.

For the past three years, the heart of the airport has been largely closed except to construction crews. During that time a sense of curiosity grew among employees who work at the airport daily and hear noises and feel vibrations from the site. With the roof installed, employees finally got to peek behind walls and see for the first time what all that work produced, said Kama Simonds, media affairs manager for the Port of Portland.

This past fall, crews started to transport the massive roof modules from their assembly area in the northeast corner of the airport property to the main terminal site three-quarters of a mile away. Moving each section required two to three nights, Simonds said.

The endeavor called for each module to be raised off the ground 55 feet to the support column height by a self-propelled modular transporter. Then each piece was carried across the airfield at about 3 miles per hour.

Earlier this month, crews with Hoffman-Skanska Joint Venture placed the final roof module. That allowed the project to move into its next phase 鈥� on schedule.

The roof installation 鈥渨as really well planned, and well executed,鈥� Simonds said.

Next on the list is installation of a curtain wall of windows that will stretch from one end of the terminal to the other and look out to the airfield.

Right now, it is kind of a three-sided box, Simonds said. Once the window wall is in place, the space will be enclosed, and crews will be able to begin interior work.

The airport’s long-anticipated new main terminal 鈥� including a new entryway, concessions, and natural aspects 鈥� is set for completion in 2025. It’s expected to open to the public in May 2024.

Work, however, will continue to occur out of public view on both sides of the terminal. Around six more roof modules 鈥� the last ones 鈥� remain to be installed over new security checkpoints.