Expanding Military Options

Changes in the Armed Forces Creating Opportunities for Contractors

By Debra Wood

A restructuring of the Army and a commitment by the military to improve the living conditions of servicepeople means that construction on bases remains strong.

And recent recommendations of the Base Closure and Realignment Commission on base closings and consolidations should add opportunities.

"The Department of Defense work is steady and, if anything, it will increase with a combination of BRAC repositioning and the new modularity concept of the Army," said Frank Tanahey, design services manager for general contractor B.L. Harbert International of Birmingham, Ala.

Tanahey said that when a base shuts down and personnel are shifted to other locations, the military must build facilities to accommodate the soldiers.

BRAC has recommended closing Army bases Fort Gillem and Fort McPherson, both in Georgia, and the Naval Air Station in Atlanta. Major realignments would take place at the Naval Air Station in Pensacola, Fla., and at Pope Air Force Base in North Carolina.

President Bush accepted the commission's report in September and sent it to Congress, which has 45 days to review it and approve the recommendations without changes or reject it.

"We see BRAC as providing a further boost to construction," said Steve Turner, acting chief of military programs for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Savannah District, which covers Georgia and the Carolinas.

Turner said the BRAC recommendations could add $200 million to $500 million annually in corps construction projects, which now average between $400 million to $500 million per year.

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In addition, the Army Modular Force Unit Stationing Transformation Initiatives will add to the corps' work list. The initiative aims to make forces more quickly deployable by creating self-sufficient brigades to replace current divisions.

"The Army is transforming into a different type of fighting force, and to support that we're doing lots and lots of construction," Turner said. He added that the Army will move units from all over the world back to the United States.

Initially the corps will use modular facilities to house and provide support structures for 1,000 to 3,000 soldiers at each receiving base. The modular units ultimately will be replaced with permanent construction.

The Army also plans to add more huge complexes that give soldiers a place to drill with live weapons and tanks.

For the past few years, the Army has focused on improving barracks and updating living facilities. That will wind down during the next five years as the Army concentrates on improving quality of life by building gymnasiums, swimming pools and child-development centers on bases, Turner said.

Housing

"There seem to be opportunities everywhere, and there is a mandate to upgrade barracks and operations facilities," said Terry Willis, marketing director for Caddell Construction Co. of Montgomery, Ala.

At Fort Benning, Ga., Caddell has begun a $41 million project that includes two barracks structures and headquarters, dining hall and support buildings. Caddell also is busy at Fort Bragg, N.C., constructing a $68 million 1st Corps Support Command barracks and company operations complex. Both living facilities provide private rooms for the soldiers attached to a common kitchen and living area.

B.L. Harbert has completed 85 percent of the design-build 16th MP Brigade Complex at Fort Bragg, which includes a four-story residential building and support structures.

The company has begun foundation work on a design-build barracks project at Fort Stewart, Ga. The seven three-story concrete buildings will have metal-stud walls and exterior brick cladding.

The military also has made a large commitment to renovating and revitalizing its family housing program, said Joe Zukowski, lead estimator for military projects for general contractor Dick Corp. of Pittsburgh.

"Military housing is extremely strong," agreed Jim Taylor, executive vice president of Centex Construction of Atlanta, crediting the Department of Defense's housing privatization program.

Centex began work in November 2004 on a multiyear, privatized housing project at Fort Stewart/Hunter Army Airfield for GMH Military Housing of Newtown Square, Pa. When complete, it will consist of 1,770 new town houses and 98 single-family homes and renovation of 1,597 existing units. Centex is gearing up to start a similar project at Fort Gordon, near Augusta, Ga., in 2006, again with GMH, which received a 50-year ground lease to develop and manage family housing at that base.

Other Projects

At Eglin Air Force Base in Valparaiso, Fla., B.L. Harbert is in the third year of a $33.9 million, 157,222-sq.-ft. hospital renovation project, which includes a 71,878-sq.-ft., reinforced concrete addition to house outpatient facilities.

And the company is in the midst of a $17 million project, adding administrative and training facilities at Hurlburt Field, Fla.

Dick Corp. received a $79 million design-build contract for a 35,000-sq.-ft. precast concrete Aviation Rescue Swimmer School, a 54,000-sq.-ft. precast fitness center and two masonry visitor quarters totaling 196,000 sq. ft. at the Aviation Enlisted Aircrew Training School in Pensacola, Fla. Construction will begin in 2006, with completion scheduled for one year later.

Danis Construction of Jacksonville, Fla., began work in June 2004 on its first military job - a 100,000-sq.-ft., combined support maintenance shop at the Florida National Guard's Camp Blanding Training Site near Starke, Fla.

The $21 million project includes six pre-engineered masonry and steel buildings with metal roofs, which will house administrative personnel, vehicle refurbishing, a missile vault, firing range, electronics repair facility and automotive service shop.

Danis also paved 20 acres with a resin-topped asphalt that hardens the concrete so tanks can drive on it. In its final weeks at the training center, Danis received a second contract to build a 60,000-sq.-ft. regional training institute at Camp Blanding.

The $13 million project entails construction of a single-story, metal-stud frame educational facility and a two-story, concrete-block billeting building.

Hightower Construction Co. of North Charleston, S.C., is building a 60,000-sq.-ft., masonry and structural-steel medical-dental clinic at Parris Island, S.C., for the Navy. The $21 million project was coming out of the ground with pile caps and grade beams in September and should be complete by the end of 2007.

At the Navy Hospital in Beaufort, S.C., Hightower is gearing up to replace stair towers, a $1 million project, according to Jack Ellison, Hightower onsite project manager.

Also at Parris Island, Centennial Contractors Enterprises of Vienna, Va., holds a six-year Marine Corps indefinite delivery indefinite quantity contract for miscellaneous repairs, renovations and upgrades ranging from $10,000 to $750,000. It received a similar 10-year contract for repairs and remodeling, ranging from $200,000 to $2 million, at Tyndall Air Force Base in Panama City, Fla.

John Martin, senior vice president of Centennial, said contracts are better this year than last, but domestic military spending may be trending down in response to ongoing expenses in Iraq.

Earning the Contract

Major military projects are highly competitive. It usually begins with a qualification process, with interested firms providing detailed information about past performance on similar jobs and references.

Then the military invites a few companies to bid. A faster schedule earns a bid more points from the Army Corps of Engineers. In addition, many military jobs require more collaboration with end users.

"There is almost a universal requirement for formal teamwork or partnering," Caddell Construction's Willis said. "There's more of a team effort than there ver was in an effort to get things right before big mistakes are made."

Design-build is growing in popularity with government contracting. Turner of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said the corps uses design-build for 25 percent to 40 percent of it projects, especially those similar to commercial work, such as barracks and office buildings.

Turner also said the corps is using more commercial standards rather than its unique, long-standing specifications for materials and techniques.

Useful Sources:

• Department of Defense
  http://www.defenselink.mil/brac/
  
  
• Office of the Deputy Undersecretary of Defense Installations and Environment, Military Housing Privitization
  http://www.acq.osd.mil/housing/mhpi.htm