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Fort Bliss' $4.4B expansion on schedule
(Multifamily
: El Paso)
6/17/2008
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To the west of Loop 375, the first stages of more than $4 billion in new construction at Fort Bliss have begun. The most evident is Biggs Army Airfield - going from the groupings of temporary barracks once known as Long Knife Village to the freshly built barracks of BCT 1(brigade combat teams) and BCT 2. Troy Collins, P.E., the corps' Fort Bliss program director said even though the first BCT complex won't be ready until September, the first battalion for that first BCT should be finished by the end of the month. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and construction contractors are building complexes for seven BCTs. Soldiers are also set to move into one of the already-completed barracks buildings this week. So far, contractors have put between $500 million and $600 million in the ground. A major portion of each barracks building begins in the warehouse and is constructed modularly, which is meant to fast-forward the construction process. One barracks building costs $7 million, houses 128 soldiers and has a lifespan of 25 years without major renovation, according to the Corps of Engineers. The group of seven planned BCT complexes consists of four heavy brigade combat teams, two infantry brigade combat teams and one combat aviation brigade. Each complex includes barracks, company operations facilities, equipment shops, storage facilities and other support buildings. The combat aviation brigade, or CAB, also includes hangars. "The El Paso workforce of contractors, subcontractors and suppliers is meeting the challenge and working toward this Fort Bliss expansion on schedule," said Collins. The completion of the first complex is one part of the major expansion the post will see over the next six years. Through a combination of military construction money and BRAC funding, Corps of Engineer contractors will build $4.4 billion in construction projects between 2005 to 2014 - or, an average of about $13 million every week. In March 2008, the corps released a report on the scope of construction - 300 buildings covering 3,100 acres with 10 million sf of living and work space. Add in White Sands Missile Range, and the total planned expansion amounts to $5.5 billion.
[El Paso Inc.]
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