Photo By Scott Sturkol | Contractors with JMJ Construction of New Lisbon, Wis., along with support from...... read more read more
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Contractor JMJ Construction of New Lisbon, Wis., and Heritage Movers of Blue River, Wis., successfully moved the second two of four World War II-era barracks buildings from the 1600 block to the 1800 block and 2800 on April 4 and April 6, respectively.
The first two barracks were moved on Feb. 24 and March 2 to the 1700 block. The contractors had a pause in moving the second two barracks buildings for several reasons, including scheduling days with the power company officials so linemen and trucks were available to tend to power lines across roads as the second two barracks were being moved longer distances than the first two barracks.
Engineering Technician/Construction Inspector Timothy Peterson with the Fort McCoy Directorate of Public Works (DPW) Construction Inspection Branch said the building are now all set up in open lots among the rest of the barracks in the blocks where they were placed.
“Eventually they will be brought back on-line and returned to use for units that come here for training,” Peterson said.
In moving the third barracks building, the contractors continued what they did with the first two buildings on Fort McCoy — they were moving an 81-year-old, 90-foot, two-story barracks building with a remote-controlled system on wheels down streets and through parking lots.
The move of the third building actually began on April 3, and it went out of its old area of the 1600 block and into the parking lot of directly in front of one of the newest four-story barracks buildings recently constructed on post. It was, again, a moment of “old meets new.”
After an overnight in the parking lot of the new barracks, on the morning of April 4, Matt Childs with Heritage Movers guided the barracks on its course down the street past the 1700 block to the 1800 block to its new location.
Childs said at the end of moving the third building he thought it “went well” after setting down the remote control from steering the building on wheels for almost three-quarters of the mile at 3 miles per hour.
On April 6, the contractors had the fourth building all prepared to be moved to the 2800 block. However, because this time it was going to be going a couple miles to its new spot, the move was going to be completed with the use of a truck.
In the 8-o-clock hour on the morning of April 6, with power company insulated bucket trucks and utility crews going ahead of them moving power lines, the contractors moved the fourth World War II-era barracks slowly and safely through the cantonment area.
On both April 4 and April 6 there was some wind and overcast skies, buy there was no rain or inclement weather so the moves weren’t made more difficult than needed, and many people associated with the work said they were grateful they had acceptable weather to get the work done.
And once again, looking back, all four of the buildings were originally built 81 years ago in 1942 during the construction of Fort McCoy's cantonment area. An article in the Aug. 28, 1942, edition of The Real McCoy newspaper discussed the actual construction of the cantonment area and these buildings.
“Actual building and grading operations for the erection of the hundreds of buildings began March 20, 1942, although the original survey by a corps of engineers was made in July 1941. Authorization for construction was given by the War Department on Feb. 9, 1942.”
The article also states, “Each of the new buildings is of the most modern military design for comfort and welfare of the Soldiers. All are equipped with the latest of scientific appliances. The first Soldiers to move into the new area were the Camp McCoy Military Police. Hundreds of mechanics of every type and description were employed to grade and construct the hundreds of buildings, warehouses, recreation centers, chapels, and other necessary buildings. A few months ago, this new camp site was a countryside consisting of beautiful hills and valleys studded with scrub oak, jack pine, and wild grass. Today it is one of the finest military camps in the world.”
Now that the old barracks are moved, work can commence to make way for more new construction in the 1600 block.
DPW Master Planner Brian Harrie said overall eight new buildings are planned for the entire 1600 block. The plan is to build four barracks buildings — two of which are now complete, the three 20,000-square-foot brigade headquarters buildings — one of which is currently under construction, and one 160-room officer quarters.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is currently designing two brick-and-mortar projects for fiscal year 2023, too, Harrie said. One is the third (of four) four-story barracks in the 1600 block and the other is the officers’ quarters. These are also based on the outcomes of the 1600 Block Transient Training Campus Plan. Award of both projects is also planned sometime possibly for fiscal year 2023.
And there’s still work to be done on those four barracks that were moved. DPW officials said the contract scope of work shows that in addition to moving the buildings to their new locations, the work includes building new concrete foundations, installing new furnaces, hot water heaters, and completing site work such as installing utilities and completing grading and sidewalks.
“The contract scope of work also includes repairs to anything damaged during transport,” said DPW Construction Inspection Branch Chief Dan Hanson. “The plan is to relocate the buildings to the new locations … then lift them onto the new foundations and complete the remaining work by this summer.”
The old barracks were among more than 1,500 buildings constructed by more than 8,000 workers in 1942, which took nine months to complete at a cost of $30 million (approximately $545 million today). The triangular share of the cantonment area, or the “triad,” was designed to allow troop units to live and train efficiently under one headquarters.
Fort McCoy’s motto is to be the “Total Force Training Center.” Located in the heart of the upper Midwest, Fort McCoy is the only U.S. Army installation in Wisconsin.
The installation has provided support and facilities for the field and classroom training of more than 100,000 military personnel from all services nearly every year since 1984.
Learn more about Fort McCoy online at https://home.army.mil/mccoy, on the Defense Visual Information Distribution System at https://www.dvidshub.net/fmpao, on Facebook by searching “ftmccoy,” and on Twitter by searching “usagmccoy.” Also try downloading the Digital Garrison app to your smartphone and set “Fort McCoy” or another installation as your preferred base.
| Date Taken: | 04.12.2023 |
| Date Posted: | 04.12.2023 01:07 |
| Story ID: | 442449 |
| Location: | FORT MCCOY, WI, US |
| Web Views: | 324 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Continuing making history: Contractors move last two World War II-era barracks to new locations, by Scott Sturkol, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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