A car stops at one of six gates at Fort Carson, Colo., upgraded in a $7.4 million project. The security project included upgraded barriers and new guard booths and equipment buildings at the gates. It also upgraded electrical systems to accommodate...
Visitors entering Fort Carson, Colo., may notice the access control points have been upgraded with new barriers, guard booths and support structures.
What they won't notice is the upgrade to the infrastructure that will support an Automated Installation Entry system that will provide enhanced electronic security for the installation.
This is one of the biggest projects so far for the U.S. Army Engineering and Support Center's Access Control Point Program. Projects to upgrade ACPs at Fort Campbell, Ky., and Military Ocean Terminal, Sunny Point, in Southport, N.C., are also complete. The upgrades are necessary to install security components that will improve the process of vetting credentials for all who enter military installations.
Huntsville Center project managers are working with 49 continental U.S. (CONUS) and 36 European garrisons to provide designs to upgrade the physical security at 191 ACPs affecting 425 lanes. Forty-eight CONUS garrisons will have designs that will allow installation of the AIE system and at least 30 will have equipment installation.
The upgraded infrastructure and enhanced electronic security measures are in response to the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
The Army's Product Manager for Force Protection Systems (PM-FPS) selected the Huntsville Center to plan and manage this gate upgrade initiative to include survey, design, purchase and installation of ACP equipment at all Army installations. The efforts are executed in conjunction with the priorities established by the Office of the Provost Marshal General and as directed by PM-FPS.
The $7.4 million project at Fort Carson upgraded barriers and installed new guard booths and equipment buildings at six ACPs, upgraded the electrical systems to accommodate the future AIE system and installed active vehicle barriers at three of the six gates.
"This is one of the biggest projects we have done to date, and it's the most complex because of the gates and the number of lanes," said Michael Norton, ACP program manager at Huntsville Center. "The challenge was to get the work done while trying to maintain traffic throughput.
"This project enhances security at a big post," Norton said. "Fort Carson is a Power Projection Platform. With BRAC (Base Realignment and Closure) and GTA (Grow the Army), Fort Carson is in the process of growing by nearly 10,000 Soldiers. The six ACPs will help with security. The gates look great, but it is more than looking great. It is doing important things to provide security for the installation."
The ACP program's charter only allows for upgrades to be made to the existing lane structure and some supporting infrastructure at an installation, Norton said.
"Many installations are finding they do not have enough lanes at the gates to support the increased traffic flow," Norton said. "Garrisons are growing. Our program is only allowed to touch what is there now. We can add some supporting infrastructure, but we cannot add additional lanes to an existing ACP. So, we can only provide a partial solution."
The contract for the Fort Carson project was awarded Sept. 6, 2007, to LVW Electronics out of Colorado Springs, Colo.
"The equipment we installed was to the Army ACP standard. The standard suite includes 15 items," said Gary Daniel, with Shearer and Associates. Daniel provides technical engineering support for the project. The Fort Carson project was completed July 30, 2009, three weeks ahead of schedule.
Officials at Fort Carson agree that the project went well. Installing the infrastructure makes the gates ready for second part of this effort, installation of the AIE system.
"Right now there is no change in how individuals are allowed access to Fort Carson," said Jake Jacob, deputy director for Emergency Services at Fort Carson. "They came in and did all the pre-work - that is all done. The only major improvement is the anti-vehicle barriers and those are a great addition to our force protection measures."
Other ongoing ACP projects include Letterkenney Army Depot, Pa., which is almost finished; Redstone Arsenal, Ala.; Fort Lewis, Wash., which is nearing completion; Fort Rucker, Ala.; Bluegrass Army Deport, Ky.; Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md.; Fort Stewart, Ga.; Fort Gordon, Ga.; Fort Huachuca, Ariz.; and Fort Belvoir, Va., to name just a few of the 49 CONUS installations.
"This is great work the Corps of Engineers is doing," Norton said. "In the end, we will have much more secure garrisons for our Soldiers, their families and civilians who work and live there."
Social Sharing