ANNISTON ARMY DEPOT, Ala. -- Forty munitions storage magazines at Anniston Army Depot are being modified with taller, wider doorways and larger concrete pads.

"These modifications will allow us to store the newest Aviation and Missile Command assets in a posture to be able to ship, as needed, across the world," said Chad Adams, chief of the Munitions Division for the Anniston Munitions Center. "The wider doors will allow us to receive and store more stock prepositioned for rapid, global deployment."

Construction is being performed on five igloos at a time and the entire project is expected to conclude in late June of 2020.

Total cost of the project is projected to be $6.1 million.

Changes to the igloos begin at the edge of the concrete pad.

In the prior configuration, the ground wasn't graded to meet the pad, meaning forklifts had to "step" up onto the pad.

From there, the single, five-foot wide door wasn't large enough to allow entry to the loaded forklift.

The new double doors solve that issue and the ground is graded to meet the larger concrete pad at the entry.

This ensures a smooth entry for the munitions being stored in each of the magazines.

"It's been a process for many years to get the igloos converted," said Tim Arrington, a civil engineer with the depot's Directorate of Public Works. "ANMC is just so limited in movements with the single door."

Following this modification project, the conversion will have been applied to approximately 176 of the ammunition storage magazines located at ANAD.

"The addition of double door igloos for missile storage increases ANMC's capacity to support the joint war fighter across the globe," said ANMC Commander Lt. Col. Roshun Steele. "Not only will it enhance the storage and shipment of assets already stored on site such as Hellfire, Longbow and TOW missiles, but it will also make ANAD a viable storage location for new production missiles in the future."