Lancer gate to close June 28

Published June 24, 2010
By Brandice J. Armstrong
Tinker Public Affairs

TINKER AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. -- Lancer Gate (No. 20) will close June 28 for a 135-day construction project. Situated across from Bldg. 3001 on Bradley Drive, it is the final gate in the five-gate safety military construction project.

While under construction, contractors will install the "final-denial barrier system" to prevent unauthorized vehicles from entering the installation. They will also replace the lighting and add sidewalks. During construction, Hruskocy Gate (No. 7) will be used as a 24-hour entrance.

"Lancer Gate will have all the whistles, lights and everything," said Mark Nabywaniec, 72nd Civil Engineer Directorate project manager for Civil Design and Construction. "We'll give Tinker a good product when we're done. It'll be a better gate to better protect the base."

Costing roughly $1.2 million, Alaska's Tatitlek Corporation will perform the work, as they did on the previous four gates, which included Vance (No. 40), Liberator (No. 21), Hope (No. 30), and Tinker (No. 1). The total cost for all five gates is $6.5 million.

Since finishing the first gate, Vance, in May, Mr. Nabywaniec said the contractor has ironed out the bugs and issues. Initially scheduled to be finished in January, Vance was delayed by four months. Yet, Liberator, the most recent gate to be finished, was finished on-time.

"Liberator gate had absolutely no problems at all on it. We feel confident we've found all the demons," Mr. Nabywaniec said. "Just bear with us, we're working as fast as we can."