Pardon our mess

  • Published
  • By Mark Jacobsen
  • 55th Civil Engineer Squadron director
OFFUTT AIR FORCE BASE, Neb. --  Construction projects worth more than $80 million are currently underway at Offutt. This much of construction activity causes a lot of mess. We ask that you bear with us as we repair base roads, renovate facilities, build new facilities and demolish others.

Our in-house crews are actively repairing pavement across the base. Pot hole filling, crack and joint sealing and minor pavement replacement are continuously underway throughout the summer months and into the fall. Access to some parking lots will be restricted at times. Parking lot work is being coordinated with facility managers. We are not planning any road closures, but may have to implement lane restrictions from time to time.

Here's a look at some of the major construction contracts:

The 97th Intelligence Squadron addition is a $17-million effort scheduled to be completed by December of this year. The building is located at the intersection of Butler Boulevard and Recon Road. Major impacts to roads and utilities associated with this project are behind us now, but there may be minor interruptions until the project is completed.

We expect to break ground on a new Navy support center is in late August and finish the project by October 2010. This $4-million project will be located at the intersection of Nelson and Travis drives. Construction impact to roads should be minimal; however, heavy construction traffic is scheduled to cross Travis Drive. Utility outages in the area will be kept to a minimum and scheduled during non-working hours whenever possible.

The demolition of the old community center is a $675,000 project currently underway, with work finishing by October. Rubble from the site, located south of SAC Boulevard near the west end of the runway, is being hauled to the Frady Fitness Center parking lot, where it will be crushed and used for road base and backfill material. Construction traffic will be occasionally heavy along this route. The road from the Communication Group headquarters to SAC Boulevard is temporarily closed, but will be repaved as part of this project. The road is scheduled to reopen in early October.

A $2-million project to demolish the Frady Fitness Center, located west of the Martin Bomber Plant Building, is expected to be completed by October. Soil from the abandoned railroad embankment, just south of the Kenney Gate, will be used to backfill the site after the building is demolished. The road from the Legal Office and the parking lot on the west side of the Frady will be demolished as part of this effort and will not be reconstructed. You can expect heavy construction traffic across SAC Boulevard.

Repairs to gas lines, water mains, storm sewers, roads and parking lots are underway. The $8-million project for basewide infrastructure repairs will continue through the early fall and resume next spring. Short water and gas outages may occur at various facilities, but will be kept to a minimum and scheduled during non-working hours. Any outages will be coordinated with the facility managers.

Utility lines will be bored under roads. Road closures are not anticipated, but closures or lane restrictions may be required if unstable material is encountered under the road surface.

Pavement repairs remaining for this season are Recon Road, scheduled to begin mid-September, and the parking lots at U.S. Strategic Command which are currently underway.

The gas, water and sewer line repairs are currently being preformed across the entire base. Work is mainly taking place on the north side of the base and will move to the south side as work progresses this summer and into next spring.

There are numerous other construction projects underway on the flightline and inside facilities across the base, with even more projects under design for next year. This aggressive project execution, while inconveniencing us now, will improve the facilities and infrastructure to the benefit of all. Thanks for your patience!