Largest aircraft hangar overseas passes High Expansion Foam Dump testing

Photo By Sameria Zavala | The Far East District engineer team passed a major milestone in the construction of project AV051 CY16 ROKFC In-Kind, A05R507, 3rd Military Intelligence Aircraft Maintenance Hangar Complex, by successfully completing a High Expansion Foam Dump test in the largest U.S. Army hangar overseas at USAG Humphreys, Pyeongtaek, Republic of Korea, Jun. 3. The District is well on their way to a building turnover to the 3rd Military Intelligence Battalion, based at USAG Humphreys.  

SOUTH KOREA

06.07.2021

Story by Sameria Zavala 

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Far East District

The Far East District engineer team passed a major milestone in the construction of project AV051 CY16 ROKFC In-Kind, A05R507, 3rd Military Intelligence Aircraft Maintenance Hangar Complex, by successfully completing a High Expansion Foam Dump test in the largest U.S. Army hangar overseas at USAG Humphreys, Pyeongtaek, Republic of Korea, Jun. 3. The District is well on their way to a building turnover to the 3rd Military Intelligence Battalion, based at USAG Humphreys.

The foam is designed to cool down and seal the area involved in the fire and block oxygen, which would extinguish an anticipated jet fuel fire and halt damage to valuable equipment.

The hangar will house the RC-12 and RC-7 aircraft. The mission of the 3rd MI Battalion is to provide timely combat information and intelligence to the tactical and operational warfighters, through responsive airborne collection, processing, analysis, and reporting.

Due to the successful completion of the ‘foam dump’ test, FED took a major step towards completing the 3rd MI Battalion mission requirement.

Shawn Murphy, FED Pyeongtaek Resident Office project engineer, and Steven Keller, FED project manager, are both responsible for overseeing construction completion and turnover of the project to the installation.

“This 3rd MI Battalion aircraft hangar is a modified Aviation Maintenance Hangar Complex that houses fixed-wing aircraft with a dual-purpose area for maintenance and wash bays, and two storage hangars,” said Murphy. “This hangar is the largest overseas U.S. Army fixed-wing aircraft hangar constructed. In addition, the hangar is simultaneously being built with an attached 3-story administrative support building, to house around 300 personnel.”

The fire department, fire protection engineer, and the authority having jurisdiction (AHJ) must evaluate the effectiveness in the aim of the foam, the concentration of fire suppressing solutions and timeliness of the dump.

This is the first time that FED Fire Protection Engineer, Paul Choi, was given the designation of AHJ from U.S. Army Corp of Engineers HQ, to witness the final acceptance testing of the high expansion foam and other fire protection systems.

After the test, the foam dissipates within 24 hours, then the foam is cleaned by a floor-cleaning machine, collected into a storage tank, transferred into a vacuum tanker truck, and transported to a waste treatment plant for disposal. The foam does not contain PFAS (polyfluoroalkyl substances), making it less harmful to the environment.

This project was awarded in September 2016 and is projected for turnover September 2021.

• Date Taken: 06.07.2021
• Date Posted: 06.09.2021 20:03
• Story ID: 398541
• Location: KR