From NMCB 11 Public Affairs Office
ALBANY, Georgia 27 Seabees assigned to Naval Mobile Construction Battalion (NMCB) 11, Detail Albany completed emergent tasking s for Marine Corps Logistics Base Albany, Georgia June 23.
More than 80,000 square feet of storage space was erected to replace an existing 100,000 square foot warehouse that was completely destroyed by a tornado in January 2017.
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A structure housing military vehicles is severely damaged after a tornado strikes Marine Corps Logistics Base Albany, Jan. 23, 2017. A line of strong thunderstorms produced a tornado that passed through the Albany, Georgia community and Marine Corps Logistics Base Albany carving a path of destruction leaving the landscape strewn with broken trees, downed power lines and damaged structures, Jan. 22, 2017. (Photo by Nathan Hanks)
During the build, Seabees of NMCB 11 erected one 80 x200 and two 80 x400 clamshell Large Area Maintenance Structures (LAMS) for use by the maintenance and restoration contractor groups onboard the logistics base. This space will provide temporary facilities for mission critical combat equipment and maintenance.
"These are some of the hardest working people I've ever had the pleasure to work with, I'm truly impressed with what they can do," said Mr. Edward C. Miller, a representative of Oilcanners Construction Consulting and a LAMS subject matter expect.
Miller, a civilian contractor, trains, advises, and oversees the construction of LAM storage facilities worldwide.
A LAMS clamshell is a Tensioned Fabric Structure (TFS) that can be quickly deployed, assembled and disassembled as a specific mission dictates. They are also referred to as maintenance tents, tent shops, or tent buildings but are much more versatile and stronger than a standard tent. The TFS is made of aluminum with PVC fabric stretched over a grounded frame. The fabric is weather resistant and when fully erect can withstand winds of 95mph.
Since a TFS requires neither interior beams nor columns for support, they create large, open spaces completely protected from outside elements. The interior spaces can be used to conduct repairs and maintenance on vehicles and heavy machinery, or various other required tasks.
"I've never seen anyone work so hard and so fast," said Mike Layfield, maintenance facility manager. "I leave for the weekend and come back Monday and there s a 25,000 square foot building where a parking lot was on Friday. I've never seen anything like it." That being said, the Seabees of NMCB-11 still faced obstacles. One of the more difficult tasks these Seabees faced was driving four foot anchors for the base plates into the already compacted Georgia clay. This was no easy task and after driving nearly 200 anchors into the ground there was not a Seabee on DET Albany who had not spent time on the 90 pound jackhammer or had a sledge hammer in their hand.
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A tension fabric structure erected by Seabees located in Naval Support Activity Bahrain. (Photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Mike Lenart)
"I have never been more proud of my Seabees. It is amazing to see the amount of work they can do when they have the right tools and equipment for the job. This has been quite the experience for us and it has become another tool in the toolbox we can use for future deployments or homeport task" said LTJG Kioumars A. Rezaie, DET Albany s OIC.
Conservatively, labor performed by the Seabees and associated operations of government Civil Engineering Support Equipment (CESE) resulted in approximately $300,000 in cost savings.
Homeported in Gulfport, Mississippi, NMCB 11 is part of the Naval Construction Force (NCF). The NCF is a vital component of the U.S. Maritime Strategy and are comprised of deployable battalions capable of providing contingency construction, disaster preparation and recovery support, humanitarian assistance, and combat operations support.
For more information, visit http://www.navy.mil, http://facebook.com/usnavy, or http://www.twitter.com/usnavy.
For more news from Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 11, visit www.navy.mil/local/nmcb11/