“Bethesda is looking good for the future,” said Andy Buzbee, Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC) Washington Project Management and Engineering Branch Head said. “DHA (The Defense Health Agency) is investing in this installation.”
Pedestrian Connector
Some of the preparatory work for the MCAA made significant progress. One project was the utility relocation project, which is almost complete. It consists of installing new and replacing existing utilities, but the project ran into some unforeseen conditions such as hitting harder rock than expected, Buzbee said.
The same contractor doing the utility relocation work was awarded the contract for a pedestrian tunnel between Bldgs. 9 and 19, Buzbee said. Construction on the project is set to start in early 2018.
“It allows for a smooth turnover between the projects, minimal mobilization time and also allows for some efficiency with crew sizes and some of the permitting,” Buzbee said.
Brown Drive traffic flow was affected during that project and is expected to be affected again when the base communications center construction starts. The center will be built between Buildings 54 and 55. Another part of that project includes installing three new generators.
Outpatient Medical Annex
Construction of the outpatient medical annex, which will house relocated departments from the medical center during the MCAA project, started and is expected to be complete in 2018.
The 124 modules to construct the annex on the G-lot were transported across base with minimal disruption, Buzbee said.
“It was a major success transporting these 12 modules from Perimeter Road and right down through one of the most congested parts of the base on North Palmer Drive,” Buzbee said. “I would be surprised if anybody really reflected back and thought ‘That was really a pain.’ It went incredibly smooth from our side.”
Departments are expected to move into that building later this year.
Bldg. 57 Parking Garage
Completing the parking garage was another major achievement, Buzbee said.
The new structure was built on the former H-lot and opened in October. Putting up the 268 reinforced precast concrete panels went up pretty quickly with between 8 to 12 panels being put up a day, Buzbee said.
NSAB was “very supportive and cooperative and allowed that construction to happen with minimal detours for the traffic.”
Construction on the project for the parking garage went “very well,” said Elie Naanouh, NAFVAC engineering technician.
The 6-level parking garage has 650 spaces, including 14 handicapped spaces, with 48 spaces around the garage.
Other Projects
Another project included replacing around 1,500 windows in Bldgs. 9 & 10. The windows were replaced and the exterior of the buildings were cleaned and repaired, according to Montez Miller, NAVFAC construction manager for the project.
The historic bronze doors of Bldg. 1 were refurbished offsite. Temporary doors were installed from August to October 2017 while the work took place, according to WRNMMC.
The medical center’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit renovation was completed in 2017, which included new flooring, paint and ceiling tiles as well as upgrades to patient rooms and restrooms.
Work is almost complete on a new trail that runs along Stony Creek. A couple of sections still need to be paved, but the trail’s impetus was to allow patients a place to get into nature and heal, Buzbee said.
A project to replace two chillers that are part of a system to supply chilled water to provide cooling for the base was awarded in 2017. That project is set to be designed in 2018 and work completed in 2019, Buzbee said.
Buzbee said 2018 should also include completion of the WRNMMC utility tunnel and annex. The pedestrian connector should be completed in early 2019 and the MCAA project is expected to be awarded that same year.
| Date Taken: | 01.11.2018 |
| Date Posted: | 01.11.2018 08:19 |
| Story ID: | 261830 |
| Location: | BETHESDA, MARYLAND, US |
| Web Views: | 28 |
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This work, Construction in 2017 Preps NSAB for MCAA Project, by Andrew Damstedt, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
