USACE turns to modular construction leader for $122 million in construction projects

USACE turns to modular construction leader for $122 million in construction projects
First project: Brigade/Battalion Headquarters

The Sacramento District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) has awarded 23 year Modular Building Institute (MBI) member and industry veteran, Ramtech Building Systems (Mansfield, Texas), with a design-build indefinite-delivery indefinite-quantity (IDIQ) contract.

The contract covers the construction of brigade and battalion headquarters buildings for the U.S. Army. Original estimates value the total contract at $122.2 million, consisting of approximately six task orders spread out over a three year term. The contract covers military installations located in the eight-state Southwestern Region stretching from California to Louisiana.

Faced with the challenge of acquiring permanent facilities "faster, better, cheaper, and greener," in 2005 the USACE embarked on a master planning program to change the way it executed MILCON and BCA programs. Frustrated at not getting quality facilities in the timeframe it needed them, the Corps established a continuous building program that emphasized the standardization of facilities and processes while expanding the use of manufactured building solutions including permanent modular construction.

With this IDIQ award, Ramtech became the first company in the commercial modular construction industry to receive a prime contract required by the Army's initiatives under Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC), integrated Global Presence and Basing Strategy (IGPBS), and the Army Modular Force (AMF) program. According to Linc Moss, Ramtech's Sr. VP/COO, "We participated in many public and private meetings with the Corps in order to convince them that permanent modular construction does provide a viable alternative to conventional stick-built methods. We're honored that the Corps has entrusted Ramtech to participate in this program as a prime contractor, particularly since unrestricted prime awardees were almost exclusively ENR-400 caliber companies up to this point."

The first project will be for a 96,000 sq. ft. two-story combat aviation brigade headquarters facility located at Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas scheduled to begin in the last quarter of 2007.

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