Jan 30 2010
A multifaceted architecture, engineering and contracting team composed of The OAK Group, Inc. of Camden, N.J.; L. Robert Kimball & Associates (Kimball) of Ebensburg, Pa.; and Henderson, Inc. of Williamsburg, Va. has been selected by the U.S. Coast Guard and the U.S. Department of Defense to design and build a $22.8 million U.S. Coast Guard Rescue Swimmer Training Facility in Elizabeth City, N.C.
The OAK Group, Inc. assembled the combined team, will provide construction services, and will manage the U.S. Coast Guard Rescue Swimmer Training Facility construction project. Kimball will oversee the design, architecture and building-engineering for the facility, while Henderson, Inc. will support the facility with day-to-day contracting and subcontractor management activities.
"The complexity of this project – building an aquatic facility capable of replicating weather conditions such as waves, fog and even lightning – is very exciting to us. Additionally, there is tremendous satisfaction in knowing that the facility we are creating will prepare these incredibly brave rescue swimmers and Coast Guard air crews for the dangerous tasks they are asked to perform," said The OAK Group's president, Eduard Eichen, CIH.
Expected to be complete in 2012, this facility will train U.S. Coast Guard members to effectively perform search-and-rescue operations using infrastructure designed to simulate real-world rescue conditions, including high waves, heavy lightning, night conditions and more. The complex also will include a METS facility featuring a mock helicopter cockpit, from which U.S. Coast Guard members will be trained to eject while submerged in a large pool of water and forced to exit. Kimball Vice President of Commercial and Federal Architecture George Halkias, AIA, LEED AP, says the Kimball team looks forward to leveraging its experience with large-scale infrastructure and Armed Forces projects to help build the one-of-a-kind facility.
"Kimball is honored to have been selected as part of a very specialized group to bring this highly important, unprecedented U.S. Coast Guard Rescue Swimmer Training Facility to fruition," said Halkias. "Real-world search-and-rescue training requires real-world infrastructure to support it, and we're glad to apply our expertise to ensure members of the U.S. Coast Guard have the facility that they need to maximize the value of their training."
Following three years of project planning by the U.S. Coast Guard and the U.S. Department of Defense, the OAK Group-Kimball-Henderson team's combined vision for the facility most closely matched those plans among a field of over 20 organizations that submitted proposals.
Henderson Vice President of Federal Operations, James Neilson, DBIA, understands the significance of the Rescue Swimmer Training Facility as it relates to the mission of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. "Henderson appreciates this unique opportunity to support the United States Coast Guard in its pursuit of maritime safety, security and national defense by utilizing our ability to successfully plan, execute and delivery quality and timely construction," said Neilson.
Source: http://www.oakgroup.net