The Military Engineer ? No. 66673 An Installation in Transition By Rachel V. Goodspeed Unique project delivery methods brought a new community to fruition on time and on budget in Grafenwoehr, Germany. T he U.S. Armys biggest construction project in Europe since the 1950s was delivered on scope, on time and, most importantly, on budget. How- ever, for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), Ef?cient Basing Grafenwoehr (EB-G) was not business as usual. The U.S. Army Europe initiative to consolidate command and control headquarters and six battalion-sized elements in Germany consisted of more than 150 projects val- ued at close to $1 billion, with the USACE Europe District managing about $100 million each year since 2001. Succeeding in bringing these massive construction projects to fruition required innovative ap- proaches to organization and acquisition, said Col. John Kem, P.E., M.SAME, USA, USACE Europe District Commander, in a speech during the of?cial EB-G transition ceremony in April 2010. Normally, each U.S. Army construction project in Germany is dealt with individu- ally, with U.S. and German experts coming together to iron out project-speci?c differ- ences in standards, processes, criteria and preferences, Col. Kem said. That just wasnt going to work here. The magnitude and timeline demanded an entirely new model for collaboration. A Holistic Perspective Because the projects were located in Germany, U.S. engineers were required to follow a U.S.-German agreement to work through Bauämter, or German state construction of?ces. That extra layer of bureaucracy have could have potentially slowed down these critical projects, said Peter Barth, the USACE EB-G Regional Program Manager, were it not for a unique solution: the development of a Baudein- stelle, or construction service location, where highly-quali?ed professionals from both the U.S. and Germany could come together and dedicate their time solely to the Grafenwoehr program. According to Barth, the Baudeinstelle Part of the more than $700 million EB-G program, the completed Netzaberg military family housing area includes 800 homes on the border of Grafenwohr Training Area, Germany. USACE photo by Justin Ward Project Delivery Methods
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