Funding approved for local Navy projects
The military construction budget approved by Congress Friday as part of a $1.15 trillion spending bill provides more than $90 million for four local Naval Base Kitsap projects.
The legislation allocates $34.2 million for a land-water interface and $12.8 million for a regional ship maintenance support facility at Bangor, $22.7 million for Dry Dock 6 modernization and utility improvements in Bremerton, and $20.6 million for a Port Angeles forward operating location.
In Port Angeles, the Navy plans to build a pier and support facilities for Coast Guard ships and crews that escort ballistic-missile submarines between Bangor and their dive points in the Strait of Juan de Fuca.
Up to nine ships, from 33 to 250 feet, comprise the Transit Protection System. The Navy wants space for seven at the pier.
Having a staging area along the route will ensure crew fatigue limits aren't exceeded. Turnaround times for missions will be reduced if the escorts don't have to return to Bangor each time. Fuel will be saved, according to the Navy.
The facility will include offices, briefing areas, sleeping areas for 20 to 30 people, ammunition and weapons storage, and a fuel storage and distribution system.
A land-water interface will complete the security perimeter around Bangor's waterfront restricted area. There is already a floating security fence on Hood Canal and a double security fence on land. The interface will connect the two.
There are two alternatives. One would build piers from concrete shoreline abutments on the shore to each end of the floating fence. They'd be 280 feet long at the north end and 730 feet long at the south. A fence would run the length of the piers. There would be lights, cameras and a mesh with sensors extending from the bottom of the pier to the seafloor.
In the other option, the floating security fence would be lengthened to extend across the intertidal zone and attach to shoreline abutments. There would be three 30-foot-tall towers built on piles, fitted with lights and security equipment.
The Navy says the interface is necessary to comply with Department of Defense directives to protect Trident submarines from increased and evolving threats and to prevent the seizure, damage or destruction of military assets.
The Navy will upgrade Dry Dock 6 at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and Intermediate Maintenance Facility. The project comprises renovating and modernizing service tunnels and service galleries, and boosting industrial power and compressed air capabilities.
The improvements will speed up painting and blasting jobs, reduce waterfront congestion and reduce high-tide restrictions by raising the height of gallery walls. This is the only Navy dry dock on the West Coast that can accommodate aircraft carriers. The work is expected to be completed in August 2018.
At Bangor, the Navy will build a 20,000-square-foot ship maintenance support facility. Dispersed production functions will be consolidated within the waterfront fence line and maintenance support placed next to the controlled industrial facility, improving maintenance operations. The work should be completed by September 2018.
The act funds the government for the rest of fiscal year 2016, pre-empting naval shipyard shutdowns and furloughs. It funds the Ohio-class submarine replacement program and an 11-ship fleet of aircraft carriers, and it provides $2.9 billion for ship depot maintenance.
"After years of across-the-board spending cuts and threats of government shutdown, this bill is a relief," said U.S. Rep. Derek Kilmer, D-Gig Harbor, who represents the Kitsap and Olympic peninsulas and Tacoma. "Workers and their families will get a break from having to worry about furloughs. Veterans will see additional funds to address VA backlogs. And the men and women who serve in the military will better receive the training and equipment that they need. With the bill's passage we can continue to invest in projects at our shipyard and local installations that will keep our Navy strong."
By: Ed Friedrich
Source: Kitsap Sun