New Standards in Construction Worldwide and At Home

Army, Oct 2007 by Van Antwerp, Robert L Jr

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) is transforming to deliver world-class engineering products and services. The global war on terrorism remains a top priority; we're building hospitals, roads, communication facilities, water treatment plants and schools, and providing basic necessities. We have built or renovated nearly a thousand schools in Iraq alone, providing quality learning environments for more than 400,000 students.

Despite security challenges and the impact of attacks by insurgents and other criminal factions on USACE projects and logistical operations, the Gulf Region Division (GRD) and our partners in Iraq have completed approximately 11,000 reconstruction projects, many of which provide direct support to U.S. forces. USACE is helping to improve essential services such as access to medical facilities, fire stations, electricity, clean water and sewage disposal.

USACE is also working to build Iraq's capacity to take over the reconstruction effort. The GRD is training Iraqi engineers to manage and supervise these projects on their own. Nearly three quarters of GRD contractors (with more than 30,000 workers) are Iraqi.

The Afghanistan Engineer District (AED) provides quality, responsive engineering and construction services to a variety of customers in Afghanistan. Our brave, dedicated soldiers and civilians in theater manage programs and projects that support a full spectrum of regional activities for Combined Security Transition Command-Afghanistan and Regional Command-East; the International Security Assistance Force; U.S. Agency for International Development; and other organizations operating in theater.

On any given day, between 14,000 and 20,000 Afghans are at work on Corps projects scattered around the country. Like the Gulf Region Division, AED has initiatives to place more work with Afghan nationals and firms. In 2006, 70 percent of AED contract awards went to Afghan or Afghan-American firms. We are making significant progress in rebuilding the country and providing Afghans the means to make that progress sustainable.

Here at home, the Gulf Coast restoration effort remains a top priority. USACE continues to perform its Federal Emergency Management Agency-assigned demolition and debris clearing missions, while restoring and improving the hurricane and storm damage reduction system around the greater New Orleans metropolitan area. Our dedicated teams have restored and improved most of the area's levee system to exceed pre-Katrina levels of protection, built closure gates to protect the outfall drainage canals and continue to upgrade the region's pumping capacity. We are working to provide 100-year protection by the start of the 2011 hurricane season.

Major goals for the next year include meeting the increased demands of military construction (MILCON); incorporating some powerful changes to the way we do business as a result of lessons learned from Hurricane Katrina; and stepping up our dedication to creating sustainable, environmentally conscious projects.

The Corps of Engineers MILCON workload is increasing as a result of Army transformation. The transition from a division-oriented structure into a more brigade-centric, modular force, while maintaining our warfighting readiness, creates unique facility requirements as units are activated. The Base Realignment and Closure program and the Global Defense Posture Realignment require that facilities and infrastructure be ready to house and train troops, and to provide their families with the quality of life they deserve. In addition, many of the existing facilities at our posts are either near or beyond surpassing their design life and are in need of replacement or rehabilitation.

Our MILCON workload will likely reach or exceed $50 billion during the next few years as a result of these major changes. To meet this increased demand, USACE will leverage our industry teammates to meet our capacity requirements and streamline the system through an Army initiative called MILCON Transformation.

As a result of Hurricane Katrina, the Corps and the nation reevaluated how we prepare for natural disasters and where we have accepted risk. As a result, USACE is developing new guidelines and transforming our priorities, processes and planning to better serve the nation and its armed forces across all of our mission areas.

We are transforming into a systems-based approach, meaning we will no longer look at each civil works project as an individual entity, but as an integrated part of a much larger, regional system. We will focus on watershed studies, modeling and analyses so we can better predict the impact various proposed projects could have on the surrounding areas, considering all environmental, economic, social and technical issues.

We are instituting a risk-based strategy, clearly and accurately communicating to the public what their risks are, so they can make educated decisions. This requires public involvement in flood risk reduction and an integrated system of protection that includes evacuations, home construction standards as well as levees, pumps and drainage canals. Such focus also requires that we increase efforts to educate and advise local governments on residual risk and potential impacts of their land-use decisions. An involved and informed public will improve system performance and public safety.