New $450M contract for Humphreys infrastructure

By Doug Young, USAG-Humphreys Master Planning and Tom Kwiat, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Far East DistrictFebruary 23, 2009

HUMPHREYS GARRISON - A $450 million Land Development, Utilities and Infrastructure Design-Build contract for USAG-Humphreys was awarded to Sun Kyong Engineering and Construction Company, LTD, recently.

This contract will replace, upgrade and/or realign substantial segments of water and wastewater systems, new natural gas lines, sidewalks, bike lanes, jogging trails, lighting, and road corridors within the existing installation to include replacing all the old, fragile concrete water pipe with new PVC pipe. This effort will substantially reduce the frequency of water breaks, which impair daily operations here. Eight new water wells will be drilled and connected to the installation's water treatment plant, providing up to an additional 240,000 gallons per day to meet near-term demand growth.

The contract includes immediate repairs and upgrades of selected portions of the installation's electrical power distribution system. It also includes an expansion of the electrical switching station at Beacon Hill. Combined with new distribution connection lines to be provided by the Korea Electrical Power Corporation, the installation will benefit from an increase in electrical capacity that will be critical for new facilities coming on-line within the next two years.

Directorate of Public Works Master Planning Division, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Far East District and SK hosted a project kickoff meeting at the Humphreys Community Activity Center Feb. 10 to provide planning information to staff sections and key stakeholders about potential impacts to utility outages (electrical and water), road closures, and facility demolitions. Participants included members of a biweekly working group who develop strategies and measures to reduce disruptions to the garrison community, and the garrison's mission and operations.

Once construction begins in summer 2009, field crews will be working simultaneously in the expansion land, as well as the existing installation. FED and DPW have already begun coordination efforts to ensure lines of communication will be in place before physical work actually begins.

Construction is expected to continue through fall 2013. This contract, the single largest contract ever awarded by FED, will provide for 570 acres of land development, and placement of utilities, roads and drainage in the new land adjacent to Humphreys as an ongoing part of the Humphreys transformation and Yongsan Relocation Program.