Architectural/Engineering Services for Greater Sandy Run

Client: U.S. Naval Facilities Engineering Command

Location: Camp Lejeune, North Carolina

Services: Planning, Transportation Engineering, Civil/Site Engineering, Structural Engineering, Mechanical/Electrical Engineering, Environmental Engineering, Geotechnical Engineering, Surveying, Construction Inspection

Under several contracts with the Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Atlantic Division (LantDiv), KCI Technologies, Inc.’s surveying, design, permitting and construction management services developed the utility and infrastructure required for transforming the Greater Sandy Run Area (GSRA) into a 44,000 acre premier infantry and tank training for US Marines. KCI completed value engineering designs for perimeter access and tactical roads; tank trails; bridges; mock airfield buildings; helicopter landing zones; observation towers; power and telephone lines; and water and sanitary sewer systems for the $35 million construction under the GSRA Master Development Plan. KCI’s design and construction documents also included excavation, grading, drainage, and erosion and sediment control measures for removing ten demolition sites with hazardous material; wetlands permitting; stormwater and sediment and erosion control design and permits; hydraulic analysis for roadway and bridge stream crossings; a pump station and drainage field; field service heads; and roadway guide signs for the entire GSRA.

The unique mix of engineering, GIS, and architectural disciplines called for the collaboration of KCI’s geotechnical, structural, and transportation engineers and surveyors under rigid deadlines on transportation, electrical, and utility plans to create a roadway network for tanks, armored vehicles, and infantry training in the GSRA. KCI and LantDiv’s innovative design of incorporating a geogrid layer under the crushed aggregate roadway to improve roadway stability and strength for heavy truck and tank traffic eliminated the need to remove unstable soils and conduct expensive grading. Being 80 percent comprised of wetlands and home to protected species, environmental mitigation also proved to be an ongoing challenge. Coordinating much of the environmental permitting, KCI submitted designs that avoided or minimized impacts to wetlands.

Cost effective solutions improved many of the facilities necessary for maintaining combat readiness. The perimeter fencing and locked gates have enhanced security during joint service exercises. Access road and utility construction support further development of the GSRA. The tactical road, known as LAV Alley, and the southern section of the perimeter road are now open to light armored and personnelvehicles. The Juniper Swamp bridge crossing completes the tank circulation corridors for the entire training area. The new Range Maintenance Building, SR 41, features office space, workshops, classrooms, and a range target storage area. 125-foot observation towers provide strategic vantage points for assessing tank and infantry movements.

According to Assistant Director of Camp Lejeune’s Training resource Management Division Peggy Briley, “Before the roadway improvements, we could spend all day crossing GSRA. We drove through holes where water would come into the vehicle. Now, we can move across the area quickly, and we’re keeping people from getting lost and straying into live-fire areas.” In the words of Navy Commander SR Scanlan, US Navy Civil Engineer Corps, “KCI’s engineers, surveyors, and construction managers have consistently responded with a positive, ‘Can do’ attitude applying experience and professionalism in resolving day-to-day issues to keep the project on schedule and within budget.”

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