Infrastructure replacement, energy efficiency projects focus of Marine Corps Logistics Base Albany

MCLB-ALBANY — Until recently, much of the infrastructure at Marine Corps Logistics Base-Albany had been in place since the early 1950s. Making repairs to aging facilities can get costly for taxpayers, and make it more difficult for those at the base, and Marine Corps Logistics Command, to do their jobs effectively.

In 2015, alongside some energy-efficiency projects, creating a new MCLB-Albany by continuing work toward replacing that aging infrastructure will be a focus. One update is a project replacing the older water piping system with high-functioning plastic piping, a $20 million undertaking involving the digging out of the old piping piece by piece and replacing it.

That is expected to be completed in April, said Lt. Cmdr. Dennis Riordan, public works officer at the base’s installations and environment division.

In September, $10 million in funding came through to build a natural gas pipeline. Officials estimate the project is about four to five months away from a groundbreaking. Old Veteran Construction, through Albany area subcontractors, is expected to be working on the project for a year, Riordan said.

Also awarded in September was $16 million to build a weapons systems facility not far from Production Plant Albany so that systems could be stored and refurbished. A groundbreaking on that is expected in either late summer or early fall and will be followed by a construction timetable spanning two years, Riordan said.

Looking further ahead, Roderick Barrett, supervisor of facility planning at MCLB-Albany, said there were 18 projects being submitted for Fiscal Year 2017, including demolition of an old bridge and repair projects, replacing warehousing docks and repaving of surfaces — with a combined price tag of $15 million.

The process of demolishing old structures saves money in the long run, officials say.

“When the building reaches its life cycle, we take the building down,” Riordan said. “Later, when you drive by, it (the lot) looks like nothing was there.” If a structure can’t be used, it saves taxpayer dollars to take it down, he said.

Of the $15 million price tag, $300,000 is earmarked for demolition. Most of the work is expected to be awarded to Southwest Georgia contractors because of familiarity with the installation and economic benefit for the region, base officials said.

Mike Henderson, public works supervisor at the MCLB Installations and Environment Division, said the Albany production plant attached to Marine Depot Maintenance Command — formerly Maintenance Center Albany — is due for $2.5 million in capital improvements, which includes building conversion, storm sewer repairs, and work on the heating and air-conditioning system.

Meanwhile, work continues on energy-efficiency improvements. A second generator is housed in the same building as the original generator as part of the landfill gas project that has been providing energy to the base from gas created at the nearby Dougherty County landfill since 2011.

Energy Services Group runs the first generator, and officials hope they will run the second, generating a total four megawatts of energy.

Costs saved with the generator have been put toward paying for remaining expenses, base officials said.

“It helps out on budgets,” Riordan said.

Continuing on with the energy efficiency mandate, the construction of a $230 million biomass energy plant at the Procter & Gamble plant in Albany from which the base plans to use steam for energy has been fully approved by the Department of Defense.

“That is now in the feasibility phase,” Riordan said. “There is a proposal from Constellation Energy incoming, and then we will move forward with it.”

With the biomass plant and landfill gas generators combined, MCLB officials are expecting to produce as much renewable energy as is used on the installation by 2017, which would place the base in “Net Zero” status three years ahead of the 2020 federal mandate.

“We have some nice resources here, some nice advantages that other places don’t have,” Riordan said. “We are providing a large percentage (of renewable energy) for the Marine Corps as a whole.”

To help boost it further, there is pending two-year project involving Georgia Power. “Georgia Power is working to install as much as 50 megawatts of solar panels on the base for the Georgia Power grid,” Henderson said. “It is in the feasibility phase now. We were approached with it in the last month or two.

“Georgia Power is doing the work, estimated at two years. There is a rush to get it done to take advantage of federal subsidiaries that expire in two years.”

A geothermal project to bring in a ground source heat pump used for heating and cooling is under construction. There is a set up being built behind LOGCOM headquarters, and a proposal is on the table to put more by the base’s Marine Corps Exchange.

The project is expected to support six buildings per phase in two phases. During the summer, warm water will be stored on the outskirt of while cold water is pulled through the air conditioning from the center of its circle to cool the building. In the winter, cold water is stored and warmer water is pulled through to heat the building.

The set up behind the LOGCOM building is on track to be completed by fall.

“It is an $8 million project,” said Riordan.

The savings in energy costs from the landfill gas project is just under $2 million a year, making the investment more than environmentally sound. It also saves taxpayer money in the long run.

“(Without the generator) the landfill gas just gets wasted,” Riordan said.

For as big as some of the price tags seem, base officials said time and money is ultimately saved on projects due to the geographic information system (GIS) database to ensure perimeters on utilities are correct so that — when something needs to be repaired — crews don’t waste time digging in the wrong spot, and instead can pinpoint the area they need to work on within a foot.

“If a water pipe bursts, we don’t have to dig a large area,” Riordan said. “We are still finding what was put in the ground 60 years ago.”

Doing the job of maintaining the base efficiently ultimately means more resources to help keep it running.

“We get more money than is budgeted for us, and we save more,” Riordan said. “Some bases are not ready to execute, which means more jobs here. My goal is to make the base as efficient as possible, that the money goes where it is supposed to go and is executed on time.”

In turn, the base keeps running so that its mission can be preserved in a safe working environment. That means the roads are not left to turn into sinkholes, and workers are not utilizing electrical equipment that is degrading.

“Preventive maintenance keeps things running. Eventually, things go down,” Barrett said.