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Construction Zone: Base projects moving along

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  • By John Stuart
  • Staff Writer
TINKER AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. --  You don't have to be at Tinker very long to realize there's a lot of construction going on. With about 100 major and minor projects currently in progress, things are constantly changing.

Several larger-scale projects are steadily moving forward.

The Tinker Gate, a $4.4 million project is on target for its January 2011 completion. Situated at Air Depot and Arnold avenues, the project is 57 percent completed, said Brad Beam, 72nd Air Base Wing Civil Engineering Directorate programs division chief.

One aspect of the new gate is that it will feature lanes that wrap around a central building. The longer curved approach allows more traffic to queue, reducing congestion at peak use.

The Oklahoma City Air Logistics Center will be the recipient of a new multi-bay aircraft hangar. Workers started on the 164,000 square foot facility near Bldg. 3001 in September 2009. The $40 million facility is 30 percent done, and on track for a January 2012 completion date. Once finished, the hangar will house up to four KC-135s or three 767-size airframes, Mr. Beam said.

Contractors are utilizing a "design-build" method on the hangar, which equates to significant savings, Mr. Beam said. Architects began construction and are designing supporting systems, like mechanical and electrical, of the building as they go, requiring less time and money to complete the project. This makes one contractor responsible, eliminating time consuming disagreements between designer and constructor, Mr. Beam said.

Tinker patrons have likely noticed ongoing housing construction. As most of Tinker's homes had been built in the early 1960s, residents can expect a significant modernization in accommodations. Crews are in the process of demolishing many homes, renovating some existing ones, and building all-new residences. Once completed, Tinker will have 660 housing units, down from their previous 692 total.

Three hundred and ninety eight of those houses will be new construction, while 262 will be renovated and 432 homes demolished.

Demolishing the homes will be a step forward in the green infrastructure plan as it will mean removing homes that lie in the flood plain, Mr. Beam said.

The revamped housing editions will also feature more parks, especially parks geared toward younger kids.

Take a drive past the construction site at South Air Depot Boulevard and Patrol Road and you can see weekly progress. The new 72nd Medical Group clinic is 48 percent complete now, as hundreds of workers are putting in long hours to make up for weather delays. Although the project has seen 64 days of weather delay, due to snow and rain, crews are right on track, said Capt. Jose Ramos, Project Health Facilities officer, with the Air Force Medical Support Agency.

The three-floor, $51 million building will be one of the Air Force's state of the art clinics, replacing the current Med Group building that was built in 1957. The 171,000-square-foot structure is about 10 percent smaller than the existing building. But new design elements allow for planning efficiencies which translates to less utility consumption.

Oct. 2, 2011, is the estimated day patients should be able to begin receiving care in the new facility, said Nancy Dickinson, Initial Outfitting director, also with AFMSA. Starting in August 2011, personnel will have 60 days to transition all furniture and medical equipment from the old facility. Ninety percent of the equipment is scheduled to be reused in the new building, but start-up will still cost approximately $13 million.

"It is quite a significant feat that we'll be doing in two months," Ms. Dickinson said.

Three phases of construction were successfully completed on Arnold Avenue. About $2.2 million was spent toward the projects that widened the lanes and replaced asphalt with concrete at the intersection of Arnold and H avenues.