NEWS - Construction & Building

Local Contractors, Economy Will Benefit From Projects

SBJ Staff Report

July 12, 2011 – The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Savannah District has announced that construction will soon be underway at Fort Stewart, and the award of multiple contracts totaling more than $71 million. The contracts fund hospital renovations, two shooting ranges, a training aids center warehouse and various other projects.

"Not only does the work provide the best facilities for our soldiers at Fort Stewart, these new contracts will have an impact on the local economy," said Col. Jeff Hall, commander of the Savannah district. "The contracts, while won by large companies called 'primes,' provide opportunities for local construction workers and suppliers as well."

The primary contractors are not from the Savannah area, but the Corp states that they rely on local subcontractors to complete work such as painting, roofing, masonry, concrete work, glass and drywall. Hiring locally makes the prime's work less costly and more efficient, according to Hall. In most cases, it's also cheaper to buy supplies locally, which benefits multiple companies in the region. The winning bidders include:

- Sauer Inc., awarded a $27.7 million contract to construct an Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) Complex at Fort Stewart. The 129,389-sq.-ft. complex will be used to maintain and repair UAS aircrafts, which are piloted remotely. The complex will house all parts, tools, administration and aviation operations, and all support equipment and facilities.

- McCarthy Building Co. was awarded a $23.1 million contract for renovations and additions to the Winn Army Hospital at Fort Stewart. Under the terms of the contract, McCarthy Building Company will construct a 65,000-sq.-ft.addition and a 1,000-sq.-ft. alteration to the hospital as well as building information systems. The project is scheduled for completion in December 2012.

- Q.B.S won a $13.2 million contract for the construction of a new 78,537-sq.-ft. company operations facility for the 10th Engineer Battalion which will include a combined administrative area and four readiness areas, one for each of the four companies in the 10th Engineer Battalion.

Additionally, two separate contracts, totaling $8.4 million, were awarded to Trend Construction for a multi-purpose machine gun range and a modified record fire range. The modified record fire range project will upgrade an existing range at Fort Stewart, reducing it from 50 firing positions down to 16, in accordance with Army range standards. The multi-purpose machine gun range will contain enough space for 10 firing positions. Each range will include a tower, operations and storage building, classroom, and ammunition building. Both are scheduled for completion in July 2012.

- Enviro Agscience won a $4.8 million contract to construct a training aids center. The 33,870-sq.-ft. facility will serve as a warehouse, storage, administration and operations support center for graphic training aids.

Each year a portion of the construction dollars are set aside for small businesses. In this fiscal year alone, more than $2.8 million has been awarded to small, women-owned and disadvantaged businesses in Savannah and six surrounding counties.

Like all Army construction, these facilities will incorporate environmentally friendly features. These "green" buildings will satisfy Silver rating criteria established by the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED)rating system, in accordance with the U.S. Green Building Council standards.

Buying products locally helps to reduce the amount of energy to transport them, which is environmentally friendly. In addition, Corps projects are required to meet U.S. Green Building Council standards, which specify that materials must be local as possible.

"With the help of our construction partners - national and local - our goal is to provide the best military facilities where service members and their families train, work and live," said Hall.

Hall was recently named president of the Savannah Post of the Society of American Military Engineers. In his new role, he will lead the Savannah Post in its efforts to unite professionals from architecture, engineering, construction, facility management and environmental fields and foster effective business relationships between private and public organizations.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' Savannah District manages and oversees a multi-billion dollar military construction program at 11 Army and Air Force installations in Georgia and North Carolina. Corps' projects range from barracks, hospitals and clinics to equipment shops, headquarters buildings and aircraft hangars. For more information, visit www.sas.usace.army.mil.