Great year for military construction: will the trend continue?

• Author: Liles, Patricia
• Position: Construction industry - Column

Jennie Weldin recalls the mass of paperwork struggles that accompanied the first military construction contract that Palmer-based Weldin Construction Inc. landed about 15 years ago.

"Having one agency to work with was overwhelming until we got the hang of it," said Weldin, chief financial officer of the family owned contracting business. "The paperwork flow is pretty incredible."

Now, Weldin Construction is working on several different military contracts at various locations for different agencies, each with its own set of paperwork systems.

"I spent nearly 20 years working in the legal field prior to working full-time at our 'mom-and-pop' business, and I thought that the legal business generated a lot of paperwork. Well, it doesn't hold a candle to government contracting! Of course, that's my point of view as one who handles the paperwork end of contracting," Weldin said.

In addition to new building projects, Weldin Construction has a five-year contract to complete minor construction needs on Elmendorf Air Force Base in Anchorage, ranging from "remodeling a bathroom to installing a fuel system," Weldin said.

Called a SABER contract--Simplified Acquisition of Base Engineering Requirements--the agreement allows Weldin crews to complete work without going through a lengthy bidding and review process. The contract covers a minimum of $200,000 and a maximum of $10 million per year.

Weldin Construction also is working with partners Rim Architects, HZA Engineering and Michael Baker Jr. Inc. Engineering on a design/construct contract to build a C-17 Weapon System Trainer, also at Elmendorf.

Work on the $6.9 million, 15,000-square-foot facility began last July and is scheduled to be complete this July, Weldin said.

Once the structure is complete, technical crews will install the flight simulation equipment, Weldin said. "We have a pretty serious deadline because the facility needs to be ready for Boeing to install the simulators."

The facility has highly technical communications requirements and specific humidity requirements, she said. "We understand it is the first in a 'campus' of flight simulators to be constructed at Elmendorf Air Force Base over the next several years," Weldin said.

According to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which oversees most military construction projects in Alaska, another flight simulator, one designed to train pilots of F/A-22s, will be added to the state's construction project list in the next few years. It's one...