May 12/08: Harper Construction Co., Inc. in San Diego, CA won a $22 million firm-fixed price contract for re-stationing of 31st Air Defense Artillery from Fort Bliss, TX, including construction of primary infrastructure and site development at Fort Sill, OK to support the new “Net Fires center” there. Work is expected to be completed by March 1/10. See this Corps of Engineers page for more details regarding the relocation project, which has a total of $148 million programmed for the move. Web bids were solicited on Sept. 21/07, and 2 bids were received by the U.S. Army Engineer District in Tulsa, OK (2912BV-08-C-2002).

The 31st ADA Brigade operates Patriot missile batteries, and also includes a combat support hospital and associated detachments. Its attached reserve unit the 3rd Battalion, 265th ADA Regiment, operates Avengers, Hummers equipped with a combination gun/Stinger missile package.

Small business qualifier Sound & Sea Technology, Inc. in Lynnwood, WA received $5.9 million under a previously awarded cost-plus-award-fee contract (N62473-06-D-3005) to exercise option year 4 for engineering and technical services in support of the Naval Facilities Engineering Service Center (NFESC), Ocean Facilities Department in Port Hueneme, CA. The current total contract amount after exercise of this option will be $28.5 million. Work will be performed at various installations under NFESC’s area of responsibility worldwide, and is expected to be complete in April 2009. The Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Southwest, Specialty Center Contracts Core in Port Hueneme, CA issued the contract.

Work to be performed provides for ocean engineering services. This category includes project planning and execution of sub-sea cable projects including shore landings, seafloor engineering, ocean work platform support, underwater construction tool development, offshore structure and buoy projects, marine power systems, heavy load handling engineering, and harbor and waterside security projects.

The U.S. Army Engineer District in Philadelphia has a background page about dredging that explains the rationale and the different options. It’s a frequent subject of military contracts, and is part of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ efforts to maintain America’s ports.

Recently, Cottrell Contracting Corp. in Chesapeake, VA won a $7.5 million firm-fixed price, construction contract for maintenance dredging Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway and Morehead City Harbor and Beaufort Harbor in Carteret County, NC. Work will be performed in Manteo (Shallowbag) Bay, NC, and is expected to be complete by March 31/09. There were 10 bids solicited on Nov. 19, 2007, and 2 bids were received by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Savannah Regional Contracting Center, in Wilmington, NC (W912HN-08-C-0017).

Western Marine Construction, Inc. in Seattle,WA won a $5.9 million firm-fixed price contract for harbor dredging in Chiguik, AK (the DefenseLINK release said “Ala.”, but mean Alaska). Work is expected to be complete by Jan 10/11. There were 3 bids solicited on Nov. 26, 2008, and 3 bids were received by the U.S. Army Engineer District,, Alaska at Elmendorf, Air Force Base, AK (W911KB-08-C-003).

HQ Building
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Watts-Weitz in Novato, CA received a $67.7 million firm-fixed-price contract for construction of trainee barracks at the US Army Maneuver Support Center and Fort Leonard Wood, MO. Fort Leonard Wood offers United States Army Basic Combat Training for most non-combat arms soldiers; and more advanced training for motor transport operators, combat and bridging engineers, chemical specialists and military police. The latter 2 specialties were added after BRAC 1995, and Fort Leonard Wood has also been approved as the center of excellence for Homeland defense by the Chief of Staff of the Army – but the base lost its role in Drill Sgt. training during BRAC 2005.

In October 2007, The St. Louis Post-Dispatch ran a series of articles about basic training at the facility. The base is located in the Ozark highlands about 120 miles SW of St. Louis, and some wags call it “Fort Lost in the Woods” due to its terrain.

Work is expected to be complete by Aug 1/09. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Web bids were solicited on May 9, 2007, and two bids were received. Corps of Engineers, Kansas City District, Kansas City, Mo., is the contracting activity W912DQ-08-D-0057.

The US Naval Facilities Engineering Command Southwest in San Diego, CA has awarded a number of firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity, multiple award construction contracts for commercial and institutional building construction at various locations within its area of responsibility. In fact, it has awarded 2 very similar sets of contracts to the same set of providers. the only thing that differs is their exact areas of performance within NAVFAC SW.

The term of the contracts are not to exceed 60 months, with an expected completion date of January 2009 for the 1-year base period, and January 2013 if all 4 option years are exercised. For each of these 2 contract sets, the maximum dollar value over all 5 possible years, for all 6 winning contracts combined, is $500 million, with a guaranteed minimum of $25,000 for each contract. In practice, this means a grand total of $1 billion for all 6 contractors combined, with a guaranteed minimum of $50,000 for each. These 6 contractors may now compete for individual task orders under the terms and conditions of the awarded contracts. The winners are:

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The December 2007 issue of Britain’s Soldier Magazine highlights some recent winners under the UK MoD’s Gems program, which provides cash rewards for clever solutions to operational problems.

Royal Engineers LCpl Tom Glinn, Spr “Cookie” Cook and Spr Jay Coombes needed to cool Basra’s Cobra radar system when it began to fail in Iraq’s heat. The unit’s initial solution of placing the unit in an inflatable tent has a structural and thermal failure – but a crude sketch, some scrap wood, discarded plastic tubing and even cling film worked, drawing air from an air conditioning unit and feeding it to the radar via a set of insulated tubes. Cost GBP 20 (about $41). Winner, one Gems cash prize.

Nor are they alone. Royal Engineer Sgt Jim Randall designed a metal hook attached to an adjustable metal pole, that can be dragged along the ground to identify command wires leading to roadside IED land mines. It worked so well that explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) teams use them now. Craftsmen Steve Whiting and Phil Ashby noticed that ISO containers on the back of some of the Army’s larger trucks were snagging power lines and creating power outages. Locals not happy. Army not happy. Response? An angled metal frame that allows the cables to glide over the containers. Simple, effective little… Gems.

Tinker Support Services of Anchorage, AK received an indefinite-delivery/ indefinite-quantity contract for $267.4 million for Tinker Air Force Base Civil Engineering Services. At this time no funds have been obligated; funds will be assigned as services are requested under this umbrella contract. 79 CONS/PKAB, Tinker Air Force Base OK issued the contract (FA8101-08-D-0006).

Tinker AFB’s largest organization is the Oklahoma City Air Logistics Center, which is the largest of 3 depot repair centers in the Air Force Materiel Command. It provides depot maintenance, management expertise, services and supply chain management as well as installation, services and information support for 31 weapon systems, 10 commands, 93 Air Force bases and 46 foreign nations.

Katrina 2005
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Odebrecht Construction Inc. in New Orleans, LA received a $41.8 million firm-fixed-price contract for construction of a hurricane protection levee in New Orleans, Loisiana. Work is expected to be complete by Oct. 30, 2008. Bids were solicited via the World Wide Web on Sept 5/07, and 5 bids were received by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in New Orleans, LA (W912P8-08-C-0007).

Mechanical dredge
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Great Lakes Dredge and Dock Co. in Oakbrook, IL won a $61.3 million firm-fixed-price contract for maintenance dredging of the Port Jersey Channel in Jersey City, N.J. Work is expected to be complete by April 30, 2009. There were 15 bids solicited on May 30, 2007 by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in New York, NY (W912DS-08-C-0001).

No word on whether there’s a bonus fee for finding Jimmy Hoffa.

Dredging contracts are fairly regular features at DefenseLINK, given their importance to shipping and (among other things) the maintenance of low prices for consumer goods. The U.S. Army Engineer District in Philadelphia has a background page about dredging that explains the rationale and the different options.

Small business qualifier Gulf Sand and Gravel Inc. in Gulf Shores, AL received a delivery order amount of $6.1 million as part of a $10 million firm-fixed-price contract for restoration of shoreline and beach in Harrison, MS. Work is expected to be completed by Aug 28/08. There were 205 bids solicited on July 13/07, and 5 bids were received by The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in Mobile, AL (W91278-07-D-0108).

Your tax dollars at work.