Army Prepares to Occupy New 4-Story Modular Building at Fort Sam Houston

Mansfield, TX (PRWEB) February 28, 2014

Ramtech Building Systems of Mansfield, Texas has announced that construction is now complete, and the U.S. Army is making final preparations for occupying the fifth and final phase of the MILCON Unaccompanied Enlisted Personnel Housing (UEPH) Advanced Individual Training (AIT) Barracks at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, Texas. The project was part of a multiple task order under an Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract previously awarded to the Southwest Division of Hensel Phelps Construction Co. in Austin, Texas. Ramtech was designated as a strategic subcontractor for the 116,480 square foot modular construction project, and was responsible for the manufacture, installation, and specific finish-out of the 152 individual modular sections that were used to produce the 272 room four-story modular building. The Army expects to fully occupy the $9.7 million LEED Silver permanent modular construction project by the end of March of this year.

Faced with the challenge of acquiring permanent facilities “faster, better, cheaper, and greener,” in 2005 the Army Corps of Engineers 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 prefabricated buildings including permanent modular buildings.
Ramtech has worked as a subcontractor to Hensel Phelps on several previous high-profile projects, including the construction and fabrication of 24 single and two story administrative modules for the U.S. Army at Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas and the manufacturing and construction of temporary modular barracks facilities for the Army's 4th infantry division at Fort Hood in Killeen, Texas. To insure quality control standards were met for the barrack project, Ramtech installed a completely finished-out full-scale modular section at their facility which was inspected and then used as a model and guide during the manufacturing phase. According to Gary White, Ramtech's vice president sales and estimating, "Hensel-Phelps had a full-time quality assurance official monitoring our manufacturing process who stated that with respect to the first four phases of the barracks complex, our manufacturing was without a doubt superior to any other manufacturer they had previously worked with."

Because the AIT barracks facility houses U.S. combat troops, the structure was built to meet the Army’s rigid Anti-Terrorism Force Protection (AT/FP) construction standards and progressive collapse requirements for buildings three stories and above. All of the floor sections were designed, built, and installed as six-sided unitized boxes acting as rigid cubes when stacked together with the other sections. The building also meets the requirements of LEED Silver Certification by including waterless urinals, energy star roofing material, the recycling of waste materials to achieve a 50% diversion of waste normally sent to land-fills, and utilization of construction materials with a 20% recycled content. Heating and cooling are provided through a chilled water assist hydronic heat pump system with each unit serving one dorm room. Ramtech was also responsible for the plumbing and electrical connections as well as some of the interior finish-out including the ceramic tile installation. In addition to the sleeping areas, the building also houses a computer learning center, training area, and laundry facilities.

About Ramtech Building Systems
Since 1982 Mansfield, Texas-based Ramtech Building Systems has been providing innovative permanent modular buildings for government agencies, healthcare providers, Fortune 500 companies, and educational institutions throughout the Southern United States. As a design-build construction company, Ramtech offers full in-house design, a manufacturer direct product, and complete site construction services all within a single-source solution. By emphasizing a value engineering approach, Ramtech has successfully completed over 3,000 prefabricated buildings for diverse projects of all sizes. For more information, visit the company's website at ramtechmodular.com.

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