Fort Walker’s in-house workforce repairs culverts, saves government millions.

By Christopher HallOctober 17, 2024

Repaired culvert at Fort Walker
1 / 4 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Completed culvert repair on Laser Range road at Fort Walker (Photo Credit: Chris Hall) VIEW ORIGINAL
Excavator dropping earth
2 / 4 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Excavator depositing earth in a super-heavy dump truck during culvert repair operations at Fort Walker. (Photo Credit: Chris Hall) VIEW ORIGINAL
John Parker observing dig progress
3 / 4 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Environmental Specialist John Parker observing dig progress on Laser Range road at Fort Walker (Photo Credit: Chris Hall) VIEW ORIGINAL
Excavator removing earth
4 / 4 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Excavator removing earth during culvert repair operations at Fort Walker. (Photo Credit: Chris Hall) VIEW ORIGINAL

Fort Walker Va. – Deep in the heart of Fort Walker’s old-growth forests, a three-mile research range is carved out of the landscape. This range features various elevations, some rough terrain and wetlands; access downrange is navigated by a gravel road (Laser Range Road) on the south side. In order for the roads to not wash out, the roads need culverts to let the wetland waters flow naturally underneath; this also preserves the wildlife who live in these habitats. Eventually, however, culverts will fail, so they need to be replaced periodically. This is where our in-house Department of Public Works comes into play.

Unlike most Army installations, Fort Walker employs a robust and talented team of professionals, not contractors, to provide services such as heavy equipment operators, plumbers, electricians, carpenters and the like. In doing so, the government saves a significant amount of money year after year. This week, Fort Walker teammates from Roads and Grounds, Chris Hawkins, Mark Hall and Steve Holcomb were perched atop dozens of tons of diesel-powered steel earth-moving equipment to dig-out and replace culverts on Laser Range Road.

As in any project, there are costs associated; this project is no different. The tenant unit who conducts research on the range paid for stone, stabilization supplies and equipment rentals, and Fort Walker provided labor and equipment. Over the course of 3 weeks, DPW was able to excavate and replace two culverts, one small dig and one deep dig. Cost estimates for a private contractor to execute such a job is easily over $1,000,000; by using an in-house workforce, Fort Walker saved the Army over $750,000.

In addition to the cost savings, the DPW team was able to work around the training requirements for the training unit and the tenant was able to continue their research as needed. Environmental and Natural Resource Division was able to manage wetland water conditions with in-house pumps and hoses to ensure dry conditions for the labor, while taking care to not disturb the native wildlife.

“We have some extraordinary equipment operators in our DPW Roads and Grounds workforce and it enables us to undertake these complicated projects. It saves the government millions of dollars and eliminate impacts to wetlands and streams in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed” said Gef Fisher, Director of Environmental and Natural Resources Division.

Six more culverts are scheduled for replacement in FY25. This will be accomplished in the same manner as the two completed this year and the estimated savings to the Army is ~$2.5 million. Fort Walker’s motto is “The best training and support – Anywhere! “, but our secondary motto is “People, not equipment, make the difference”, our in-house workforce proves that true every day.