National Guard armories throughout the country have suffered from a severe shortage of unheated storage space

Infantry Magazine, Summer, 2002

NATIONAL GUARD ARMORIES throughout the country have suffered from a severe shortage of unheated storage space. When guardsmen are not mobilized, their supplies must be stored--from tents, fatigues, sleeping bags, and medical equipment to trucks, tires, petroleum, oil, and lubricants.

Ten years ago, the New Jersey National Guard (NJNG) began renting metal cargo containers, but these flat-roofed containers had serious drawbacks. With no ventilation and no drainage, the containers began to rust out, and the materials in them were water damaged.

To save supplies and equipment from further damage, the NJNG decided to expand unheated storage space immediately, but also to see that the solution was lasting and affordable. Investigation determined that prefabricated buildings with structure, sheeting, and rigid insulation pre-installed in modular panels offered the best combination of speed, function, value, and expandability.

A contract was let for 25 buildings across the state in a first round of construction. The contractor turned to a manufacturer for pre-engineered metal buildings that assemble "out of the box" at one-third the cost of brick and mortar structures. The manufacturer sent a representative to train the construction team and oversee quality control on the first building they erected.

At each site, one team leveled the ground and poured a concrete foundation, while another team bolted building sections together, stood them up, and fastened them together as soon as the concrete was dry. The erection of the 30x30-foot buildings took just four days per site, thanks to the structure, sheeting, and insulation pre-installed in modular panels, along with doors, windows, and ventilation.

Compared to brick and mortar, the pre-engineered buildings saved about $50,000 per building in labor costs. Each pre-hung door alone may have saved a day's labor at each site, and preset anchor bolts for the foundation may have saved another two days.

The NJNG estimates that it saved about seven months in start-to-finish time, and at least $10 million in equipment that would have been mined if not stored in the old pre-engineered buildings.

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