Military awards $158M for Hawaii projectsStoryChat: Comment on this storyBy William ColeAdvertiser Military WriterFriday, March 7, 2008The military recently awarded contracts that could total $158 million for a new communications facility in Wahiawa, drydock work at Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard and Navy construction.The jobs were awarded to five local companies and one headquartered in Bremerton, Wash., over the last week."It's a lot of work coming in," said Denise Emsley, a spokeswoman for Naval Facilities Engineering Command Hawai'i.The contracts include:# Up to $100 million to be shared by five companies over a maximum of five years for construction, repair, alteration and demolition work on various Navy construction projects. The companies are Ocean House Builders in Honolulu, Niking Corp. of Wahiawa, Pioneer Contracting Co. Ltd. of Wahiawa, Watts Constructors of Honolulu and Triton Marine Construction Corp. of Bremerton.# $10.9 million for overhaul of the intermediate caisson and general repair of drydock No. 2 at Pearl Harbor, awarded to Healy Tibbitts Builders in 'Aiea. A caisson is a water-tight retaining structure built so water can be pumped out to create work spaces. The work is expected to be completed by January, and the funds will expire at the end of the current fiscal year.# $46.8 million to Watts Constructors of Honolulu for the construction of a new communications center at the Naval Computer and Telecommunications Area Master Station Pacific in Wahiawa.The work, expected to be completed by March 2010, includes the construction of a single-story, steel-framed building and parking lot.U.S. Sen. Daniel K. Inouye, D-Hawai'i, in January said one of his priorities for this year is upgrading Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard. Inouye said the shipyard would receive $30 million to improve drydock services as part of a modernization effort to remain competitive with other Navy yards.It wasn't clear yesterday if the Healy Tibbitts $10.9 million contract was part of the $30 million mentioned by Inouye.The shipyard is facing challenges that include modernizing its World War I- and World War II-era waterfront infrastructure.In 2005, Pearl Harbor was on a list of 33 shipyards considered for closure. Four naval shipyards remain in the United States, and competition for work among them has increased in recent years.The shipyard is getting a boost with the homeporting of three of the newest Virginia-class submarines and the maintenance they will bring. The USS Texas and USS Hawai'i submarines are scheduled to arrive in 2009 and the USS North Carolina a year later.Pearl Harbor shipyard is the largest industrial employer in Hawai'i, with a workforce of about 4,800.A year ago, the Navy awarded a $318 million contract to Shaw-Dick Pacific LLC of Honolulu to construct a new National Security Agency intelligence-gathering operations center in Wahiawa.The new center will replace the Kunia Regional Security Operations Center, an underground facility built in a World War II-era aircraft assembly plant nicknamed the "Tunnels."The Kunia facility employs about 2,100, and another 700 military and civilian jobs are expected to be added once the new complex is completed.
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