Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Breaking Ground for Reliable Communications Services in the Pacific.

By Denise Emsley, Naval Facilities Engineering Command Hawaii Public Affairs

PEARL HARBOR (NNS) -- A groundbreaking ceremony was held, April 25, at Naval Communications and Telecommunications Area Master Station Pacific (NCTAMS PAC) in Wahiawa, Hawaii for a new, technologically-advanced communications center.

The 63,560 sq. ft. building will be located on the northeastern end of NCTAMS PAC. Currently, the area is an open, grassy field, which had hosted several radio antennas prior to being relocated to facilitate the start of construction. The new structure is to replace building 294, erected in 1959, which can no longer meet today's modern communication equipment and operational needs.

"Our customers, who span 17 times zones across the globe, from Patuxent River, Md., to Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean, will reap the benefits of our new facility," said Capt. Janet Stewart, commanding officer, NCTAMS PAC. "It will not only provide them with state-of-the-art communications equipment, it will also serve to minimize outages and reduce the time required to restore services when outages do occur. Ultimately, our new operations building will allow the men and women of NCTAMS PAC to continue to do what we do best, to provide the best customer service to our customers, the warfighter."

When completed, the project will provide NCTAMS PAC with a modern, safe, secure, efficient and adaptable facility, enhancing mission operations. It will also consolidate operational support facilities and personnel which are presently dispersed throughout the base.

"It is indeed time we move into the 21st century and work smarter, not harder," said Stewart. "NCTAMS PAC has the most dedicated and technically proficient workforce the Navy has ever seen, and it is time they are rewarded with a building that is designed to maximize their already noteworthy capabilities."

Construction efforts include building a one-story, steel framed communications structure with work spaces that will be equipped with raised floors, moveable interior walls, under-floor fire suppression system, storage spaces, conference rooms, showers, restrooms, access control system, climate control system, and emergency electrical power.

In addition to the communications center, new supporting facilities such as a 135-stall parking lot, site improvements, sidewalks, landscaping, pavement, electrical and communication ducts, fencing and security lighting are to be completed.

The final piece of the project is to construct a new single-story, power switching station, which will be built adjacent to the electrical substation located on base.

The new, secured communications facility will provide space for approximately 200 personnel and will be manned 24-hours a day, 7-days a week.

Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC) Pacific, the project's program manager, awarded the $46.9 million contract to Watts Constructors, LLC, of Honolulu, March 5. NAVFAC Hawaii's Resident Officer in Charge of Construction Wahiawa is the Navy's Administrative Contracting Office for the project. The project's scheduled completion date is March 2010.