Another project designed to enhance security is rapidly nearing completion at the Pentagon in Arlington, VA.
According to Kenneth A. Catlow, principal deputy director of the Pentagon Renovation and Construction Program Office, the contract called for the relocation of Route 110 away from the Pentagon, providing additional safety for facilities on the Pentagon reservation and to comply with the Department of Defense Anti-terrorism Standards for Buildings.
The $30.4 million project was approved by Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. Catlow explained that it utilizes Military Construction (MILCON) authority under the funding appropriated by Congress for emergency response to a terrorist threat.
The contract was awarded to Facchina Construction Co. Inc., LaPlata, MD. The company’s project manager is Moe Shamszad.
Facchina has complete design and construction responsibilities, which include demolition, asphalt paving, architectural cast-in-place concrete placement, utilities, bridge construction and specialized metal work. As a heavy civil contractor, the group self-performs the majority of the civil features of this project.
The project’s start date was Nov. 21, 2002, and completion is set for October 17 of this year.
“Currently the project is on track to meet the schedule, even with two consecutive harsh winters, excessive rainfall last year, and significant increases in requirements and changes added with time extensions,” Catlow said.
He noted that the most obvious challenge to this project is building a road and bridges in a controlled environment. “Dealing with the coordination of getting time-sensitive deliveries (i.e. asphalt and concrete) through security without any hitches is nothing that any heavy highway and bridge contractor is used to,” he said. “Additionally, there was great scrutiny of the aesthetics of the project. A great deal of coordination and approvals were necessary throughout the project because of the design-build nature of the project. Basically everything was approved as we were building it.
“Even with all of that,” he added, “the biggest challenge was still finishing the project on schedule in spite of weather.”
According to Facchina, the company’s demolition work has included removing reinforced concrete stairs and sidewalks as well as parking lots. It also handled road/asphalt demolition.
Facchina was responsible for transporting and moving historic trees and limestone at the beginning of the project. Additionally, the company is responsible for the installation of specialized handrails and architectural fencing to match the existing structures.
The project involves a total of 3,587 ft. (1,093 m) of roadway and three bridges with spans as long as 96 ft. (29.2 m) stretching over a six-lane highway.
A total of 8,040 cu. yds. (6,147 cu m) of structural concrete was needed as well as 324 tons (294 t) of rebar. To date, the project has involved 371,988 man-hours with no lost-time accidents and only one near miss, said Catlow.
Major equipment used on the job includes an Hitachi EX350 excavator, an Volvo A25C hauler, a Dynapac 262 smooth drum roller, a Cat 318 excavator, a Rammer E66N and Kenworth dump trucks.
Brenda Ruggiero
Brenda Ruggiero has written for CEG for over 20 years. She lives near the town of Accident in far western Maryland. Her favorite assignments so far involved interviews with Survivor’s Boston Rob and hot dog eating champion Joey Chestnut. Both were involved in construction at one time.
Brenda holds a BA in Mass Communication with a writing focus from Frostburg State University and minors in Public Relations and Political Science. She works full time as a staff writer for a weekly newspaper, the Garrett County Republican. She enjoys feature writing the most, which gives her the opportunity to talk to people and share their stories.
Brenda and her middle school sweetheart, Reuben, have been married for over 34 years and have three grown children and four cats.
Read more from Brenda Ruggiero here.
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