Photo By Edward Cartagena | Ridgecrest, CA – The Michelson Laboratory Complex project will build two new...... read more read more
Over the course of a construction program there are milestones to note and highlight. Officer in Charge of Construction (OICC) China Lake has reached the halfway point of the $2.3 billion earthquake recovery program aboard the strategically important and historically significant Naval Air Weapons Station (NAWS) China Lake, established in November 1943, as Naval Ordnance Test Station, China Lake.
NAWS China Lake and the community of Ridgecrest endured a series of devastating earthquakes on July 4 and 5, 2019 with magnitudes 6.4 and 7.1, in the years since, several thousands of aftershocks have persisted. OICC China Lake was established in August 2020 to provide engineering, acquisition, and execution oversight for military construction and repair projects caused by the earthquakes.
“The earthquake recovery program was developed in record time, with the establishment of OICC China Lake just 13 months after the earthquakes. This program has challenged the integrated Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command (NAVFAC)/Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division (NAWCWD) team with the scale, scope and complexity of managing 18 military construction and four major repair projects across three distinct areas of the Navy’s largest single landholding,” said Capt. Ben Wainwright, OICC China Lake, commanding officer. “A key to our successes has been the communication and cooperation established with each of the eight contractors, who are now managing over 1,200 skilled workers across the base daily.”
The OICC China Lake team has hosted 13 project ceremonies, each highlighting the importance of restoring the research, development, testing, and evaluation capabilities of NAWS China Lake and its 23 tenant commands. The groundbreaking of the first military construction project took place in October 2020 to replace 26 weapons magazines. The last project to break ground was a trio of buildings, totaling over 45,000 square feet of new technical laboratories within the Salt Wells/China Lake Propulsion Laboratory in April 2022.
By the end of calendar year 2023, OICC China Lake estimates to complete and commission 37 facilities across six projects that include community support facilities, a technical training center, weapons magazines, state-of-the-art laboratories, a fire/rescue station, and an air traffic control tower (the second tallest inhabited structure in Kern County, California). By the end of the earthquake recovery program in 2025, there will be a total of 56 new facilities to advance the development of the next generation of weapons, communications, and surveillance systems.
To date, the earthquake recovery program has logged over 2.4 million construction labor hours with no lost time, over $122 million has been invested locally for supplies, services, and subcontractors; employing approximately 200 local workers. Across the Program, there is approximately $2.5 million of construction and repair efforts performed daily.
“The construction numbers associated with these 22 projects, are an astounding feat of project management, communication and teamwork,” said Capt. Ben Wainwright. “The results can be seen across NAWS China Lake, as all the new facilities are rapidly emerging from the ground. A prime example is the incredible, ongoing effort to construct the $776 million South Airfield, consisting of six projects consolidated under a singular multiple award construction contract.”
The South Airfield broke ground in March 2021, and is confined to a 144 acre construction site that has undergone more than half a million cubic yards of earthwork, poured over 33,000 cubic yards of structural concrete, erected 273 tilt up panels for five facilities, installed over 40 miles of utility lines, and placed more than four million pounds of rebar, to date.
Many other innovations have advanced the program to include a bi-monthly executive partnering, focusing on the project’s health and addressing construction and administrative barriers that in–turn, solidify relationships among the teams. On a quarterly basis, the OICC China Lake team hosts Community of Contractors Forums with leaders of each contractor discussing common concerns, sharing learned lessons, and highlighting best practices.
A contributing factor that has significantly advanced the Program is temporary housing for construction workers. The importance of addressing the need to lessen housing impacts on the small community of Ridgecrest while supporting and attracting a large skilled transient workforce was recognized early in program development. In response, the Program proactively created a sustainment contract for a 1,300 unit temporary employee housing complex, located just off base, but still on federal property. The complex consists of two types of units. There are 850 self-contained units that provides occupants with a 300 square foot room equipped with a full size bed, kitchen, laundry, private bathroom, and on-demand water system. The remaining 450 units are 150 square feet, less kitchen and laundry amenities. Shared services include facility wide Wi-Fi, on-site security, aide station, sports courts, a dining galley and ease of access to local businesses. Upon completion of the Program, the parcel will be reverted to its natural state.
“There is much that this integrated team should be proud of. The program is peaking as each of the eight contractors’ projects are all focused on finishing the work,” said Capt. Wainwright. “There is still more to accomplish that will forever enhance and change the landscape of NAWS China Lake.”
| Date Taken: | 02.07.2023 |
| Date Posted: | 02.14.2023 20:08 |
| Story ID: | 437962 |
| Location: | RIDGECREST, CA, US |
| Web Views: | 888 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, OICC China Lake Completes 50 Percent of the Earthquake Recovery Program, by Edward Cartagena, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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