CRANE, Ind. - Crane Army Ammunition Activity hosted a planning charrette here with engineers from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Louisville District in order to determine the feasibility of isolating a building from a larger complex set to be mothballed.
The project of isolating the building in order to make it a flexible manufacturing facility will entail installing the proper system for heating, cooling, and include any process considerations. It will also entail upgrading all of the utilities in the area, providing compressed air, upgrading explosive safety and safety devices, and refurbishing the facility itself.
According to CAAA Civil Engineer Travis Summers, "This project will allow us to isolate the facility from the entire complex, saving hundreds of thousands of dollars annually. In addition, the project will bring the building into compliance with current explosive safety standards, allowing CAAA to obtain site approval from the Naval Ordnance Safety & Security Agency and the Department of Defense Explosive Safety Board and expand our manufacturing and demilitarization capabilities. In addition, the project renovates the facility, making a safer and more efficient environment to perform our mission."
The remaining structures in the complex are slated to be placed into mothball, Summers said. Placing a building into mothball is a process that is used to prevent progressive deterioration of a facility caused by exposure to the environment.
Crane Navy will obtain the explosive safety site approval through NOSSA and DDESB since they are the host installation, will aid in the development of the design once the project is funded, and will be the execution agent for the project.
The funding for this project will be Military Construction Army funds. The project will be developed for consideration into the fiscal year 2013 budget.
CAAA was established in Oct. 1977 and is a tenant of the Navy Region Midwest, Naval Support Activity Crane. The Army activity maintains ordnance professionals and infrastructure to receive, store, ship, produce, renovate and demilitarize conventional ammunition, missiles and related components.
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