United States Corps of Engineers: Fort Bragg

Operation recovery┬áOne of the busiest construction operations in the country belongs to the military, and Dan Bailey takes a look at just one small part of whatÔÇÖs happening. When it comes to spending money, the military is often perceived as having deep pockets and a cavalier attitude. Now, since the signing of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act in February, itÔÇÖs even more flushed with at least $4.6 billion having been earmarked for the United States Corps of Engineers (USACE) to use on civil engineering projects.But when it comes to getting value for money, USACE seems to take a decidedly commercial attitude in the way it allocates contracts and manages projects.Although it started long before the need for a boost to the economy, the work of rebuilding military barracks at Fort Bragg in Georgia demonstrates the way USACE works. Fort Bragg currently has close to $1.5 billion of work underway between projects started by the ArmyÔÇÖs Global Repositioning of Forces program, the BRAC program and most recently the economic stimulus bill. Included are five major barracks projects, most of which are being constructed with an aggressive design-build-delivery method.Last year, the facilities at Fort Bragg for soldiers returning from Iraq received some severe criticism. Although the true reasons for the poor accommodation are less clear, the fact remains that a program of replacing obsolete WWII and 1960s buildings had already been commenced. The new five-story buildings for single soldiers that are coming on stream in the next month or so have been described as ÔÇÿbetter than college accommodation.ÔÇÖ By the time the barracks project is complete in 2011, the Savannah District of USACE will have built 16,000 new single-person dwellings.They might be a bit institutional and regular in the way they look but they will also represent buildings constructed to LEED Silver standard and designed with the intention of reducing the whole-life costs of owning and maintaining them. ItÔÇÖs no longer a case of USACE accepting the lowest price. Contractors picked for the work have been selected from a pool based on their quality, experience and availability criteria, a formula designed to produce the best value for money. Another aspect of the work reminiscent of commercial construction is design and build, with many of the contractors being involved with the key decisions, very early in the pre-construction phase of the project. Working on a sensitive site such as Fort Bragg is always going to slow a project down, as access is highly restricted. Any time savings that can be achieved by design and build help to counteract the problem. On some barrack buildings, for example, the wall paneling is being made off-site. Not only does this ameliorate the access problem, it also enables weeks to be cut from the schedule.A second major contract on USACEÔÇÖS plate at Fort Bragg, and one of the largest awarded last year, is a $300 million shared headquarters for Forces Command and Army Reserve Command. Although the two will be located under the one roof, they will continue to retain separate identities. ItÔÇÖs a massive project totaling nearly 700,000 square feet of administration, IT and energy plant, ultimately accommodating 2,800 personnel.In the spirit of greener buildings, the headquarters will feature a unique under floor air distribution system that gives occupants greater control over their personal thermal comfort by allowing individual adjustments to the air flow in their area.┬á┬á The project has been on the drawing board since 2007 and construction was initially intended for fiscal years 2009 and 2010. However, thanks to considerable coordinated effort it has been pulled forward with a ground-breaking ceremony last December. Although primarily a functional space, the architects have managed to add aesthetically to the building without detriment to the budget, modeling the building on a Georgian crescent, reflecting the heritage of the area. ÔÇô Editorial research by Dan Finn┬á