Bristol celebrates successful, safe F-22 Infrastructure project
Bristol Environmental & Engineering Services Corporation rounded out the 2009 construction season by completing work on the F-22A Infrastructure and Taxiway project—a major expansion on Elmendorf Air Force Base—on time, under its $19 million budget, and without a single lost-time accident.
The expansive, mission-critical project encompassed 43 acres of infrastructure upgrades in support a new squadron of F-22A “Raptors.” It also provided a opportunity for Bristol to demonstrate its key strengths as a design-build heavy-civil contractor.
Elmendorf, the first Pacific Air Forces installation to receive the highly maneuverable fighters, awarded Bristol $19 million to expand and upgrade the F-22 Fighter Town East’s infrastructure and utility systems, and to construct a taxi-way, taxi-lanes, and apron providing access to new support facilities.
The project involved extensive collaboration between Bristol civil engineering and civil construction staff, including at sister BBNC subsidiaries Bristol Construction Services, LLC and Bristol Design Build Services, LLC. Despite some owner-driven schedule changes—such as work that was initiated by the 3rd Civil Engineer Squadron to design and construct 7 & 8-bay aircraft shelters in the middle of the infrastructure project—the group kept to a fast-track schedule, not allowing its work to slow. Teamwork was key to the project’s success, said Bristol’s General Superintendent, Joddy French. “The ability to have the same goal in mind … gives you a lot of flexibility when problems arise,” he said.
Bristol’s civil construction team had many opportunities to show the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and U.S. Air Force its expertise. Most work was self-performed. Bristol also put much of its multi-million- dollar fleet of heavy equipment into use, including scrapers bought especially for the job.
Another achievement was safety. Despite hazards that included heavy equipment, underground utility installation, hazardous materials, unexploded ordnance, and working on an active airfield, the project closed out with a zero incident rate over 58,000 work-hours. Friday, November 6, in Anchorage, the USACE, Alaska District, presented Bristol Environmental and Engineering Services Corporation a 2009 Safety Performance Award for its achievement.
General Manager for Civil Construction Dave O’Donnell credited the teamwork between the civil design and construction teams.
“We could buy the best equipment, but we are nothing without this group of individuals out there making it happen,” said O’Donnell. “If you have good people, you tell them what you need to do and they get it done for you.”
Cooperation between the USACE, Air Force, Bristol and others involved in the project was also significant factor, said Manager of Civil Engineering Travis Woods: “There was a level of trust between all the entities that made the project go well.”
