CH2M HILL/IHC Joint Venture Completes Mission-Critical Runway Construction Three Months Ahead of Schedule
CH2M HILL/IHC Joint Venture Completes Mission-Critical Runway Construction Three Months Ahead of Schedule
Home to the Air Force Flight Test Center, the runway is used to flight test all military and combat aircraft and serves as an alternate landing site for the Space Shuttle. The mission-ready capabilities of the base could not be compromised even during the demolition and reconstruction of the runway. To address these concerns, the U.S. Air Force selected a design-build delivery method to shorten the project schedule while allowing the design to accommodate challenges that arose during construction.
"With the main runway back, it restores full mission capability, allowing us to conduct flight operations that weren't possible without the 15,000-foot runway," said James Judkins, 95th Civil Engineering and Transportation Directorate base engineer. "I"m extremely happy that we got the runway done as quickly as we did, but I"m not really surprised. I know the project team, and I expected nothing less from them."
The CH2M HILL-led joint venture served as the design-builder for the US$114 million project, which was managed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Los Angeles District. To assure necessary flight operations during reconstruction of the main runway, a fully mission capable, green-field parallel 12,000-foot-long by 200-foot-wide temporary runway, including associated taxiways and arm/dearm pads, was designed and constructed by the joint venture. When this runway was certified in May 2008, reconstruction began on the main runway.
"CH2M HILL is honored to be involved in this first-of-a-kind design-build airfield project for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and U.S. Air Force," said Mike Kennedy, president of CH2M HILL's transportation group. "We're confident that this new runway will serve this historic air force base for many, many years to come, and we're extremely proud of our contribution to our nation's great military heritage."
Ken Schaeffer, president of IHC, said, "Our people at IHC feel privileged to have been involved in this successful design-build effort to restore the serviceability of the key runway at Edwards AFB. This was indeed a team effort. Throughout the project's design and construction phases, our joint-venture team worked closely and cooperatively with the military construction professionals, the base operations people, subcontractors, suppliers and community concerns to quickly and effectively address issues and to meet safety, environmental, quality, schedule and budget objectives."
Key accomplishments for this project include:
- Trained more than 1,500 workers through the project's safety program; resulting in the team logging more than 400,000 hours without a lost-time accident
- Built two runways in less then two years
- Moved 44,000 truck loads of rock, sand, and asphalt and more than 800,000 cubic yards of earthwork
- Placed 28 miles of concrete; 33 feet wide and 16 to 20 inches thick
- Demolished 445,000 square yards of concrete in nine weeks
A ribbon-cutting ceremony for the main reconstructed runway was held on Oct. 31. National Aeronautics and Space Administration operations for a potential Shuttle landing will commence on Dec. 12.
View the social media release and photos at: www.ch2m.com/corporate/news_room/social_media_releases/edwards_11_06_2008
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IHC's corporate office is in Centennial Colorado. For over 60 years, IHC has focused on quality and customer satisfaction, and with operating divisions in Colorado, Michigan, and Texas, has delivered many award-winning highway and airfield projects throughout the United States. IHC is consistently ranked in the top 400 ENR contractors. Visit www.IHCQuality.com.