Southeast’s Top Projects - 6

U.S. Southern Command Headquarters

Project Cost: $212.9 million

The headquarters for the U.S. Southern Command in Doral, Fla., will allow SOUTHCOM to effectively execute future joint, coalition and interagency operations.

Hensel Phelps Construction Co. of Orlando began the $212-million, design-build project last June and topped out the steel structure nine months later, in March. The company expects to complete it in September 2010.

The new 630,425-sq-ft center, also referred to as the Joint/Coalition/Interagency Facility, sits on a 55-acre parcel leased from the state and adjacent to SOUTHCOM’s current headquarters. The site will meet the Department of Defense’s antiterrorism and force protection standards. The structure, which employs a progressive collapse design, is built to endure 155-mph sustained winds and 185-mph gusts.

advertisement

Hensel Phelps erected 298 tilt-up concrete panels, weighing from 100,000 lbs to 140,000 lbs, to create the 230,000-sq-ft exterior walls of the three SOUTHCOM buildings. And it has erected 3,736 pieces of structural steel, totaling more than 3,200 tons.

The facility will provide operational space for about 2,883 personnel. In addition to the command’s administrative offices, the new facility will contain a medical clinic, fitness center, child development center, conference and business centers and other support areas. The project team aims for LEED-silver certification.

Key Facts:

Location: Doral, Fla.
Owner: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Mobile, Ala.
Contractor: Hensel Phelps Construction Co., Orlando
Design: BRPH Cos., West Palm Beach, Fla.
Start Date: April 2008
Completion Date: September 2010