Fluor Awarded US Air Force Contract to repair the Ascension Island Airfield runway
Written by Saint FM on January 22, 2020
Fluor Corporation (NYSE: FLR) announced on 21st January 2020 that the US Air Force awarded the company, through its Fluor AMEC II, LLC entity, the task order contract to repair the Ascension Island Airfield runway.
The cost-plus, fixed-fee task order is for up to 28 months and is valued at approximately $170 million.
Fluor AMEC II Is a US Company based in Texas
The US Air Force in a Media Advisory of the 21st January said:
“The project to replace the runway at Ascension Auxiliary Airfield has, at long last, been awarded. The herculean effort was brought to pass by a partnership of the UK Ministry of Defence and the US Department of Defense, assisted by the Ascension Island Government (AIG). The Air Force Contract Augmentation Program (AFCAP). AFCEC will provide overall project management for the duration of the contract.”
While many details are still to be delivered in contract documents, the Island can expect to see the first slew of contractors and government representatives in mid-February for a pre-construction existing conditions survey. Part of their task will be to establish the framework for delivering hundreds of thousands of tons of material and equipment to the Island where coastal interactions can be tricky. The period of performance (the timeframe the contractor is not to exceed in completing the task) is 10 Jan 2020 – 10 May 2022.
USAF, MOD and AIG representatives on island intend to establish a planning group to scope and fully understand the likely local impacts of the project as it is delivered. Regular communications will be provided to the local community as the project progresses.
The project, despite the enormous logistical challenges will bring with it a host of benefits to the island, the prime one of course the return of the UK MOD’s South Atlantic Airbridge and all the positive impacts that will bring to the employing organizations and those who live and work here. The project is known as a “full-depth reconstruction” as not only the existing pavement will be removed and replaced but several feet of aggregate material below. Airfield lighting will also be replaced and water drainage will be improved. This will be the first major construction on the full length of the runway since the overlay project in 1993 and the first full-depth reconstruction project since the runway’s construction in 1942 to take on WWII aircraft. The runway shoulder width will be doubled to reduce the risk of foreign object debris generation during aircraft movements. The total length of the runway will be extended by 500 feet to enable limited aircraft use (the island’s only means of large-volume passenger transport) during construction and a continuation of civilian access to Ascension. In addition, roads between the pierhead in the port settlement of Georgetown and all around Ascension Auxiliary Airfield will be reconstructed and renewed due to the large construction vehicles that will use them.
