Holdfast Training Services Trial Blog

Like my colleagues, the blog has been on hold whilst I finish my thesis.  Since then it has been hi tempo in the office too, as we complete (mostly) the Marine Terminal HVAC design and start on a UAV hangar design in upstate New York.  As rather a lot has happened in the last few  weeks I shall try and make this bite size.

Quantico:  My invitation from the USMC meant I was able to sit in on a 1 star R&D briefing on the latest energy saving measures to be implemented.  This included not only changes in policy but a whole host of kit that can either harvest or generate energy to supplement current needs.  This includes boots that can charge your radio batteries as well using waste generator heat to wam up shower water.  A very ineresting experience particularly as the USMC seems to have less money than we do and is getting industry to do the research for them rather than doing it themselves for the sake of those lucrative government contracts.  Needless to say some of this experience ended up in my thesis.

Caven Point:  As with all design project coming to an end, this has been a period of mind changing and total redesign.  This including swapping ouot VRF for VAV systems, totally removing VRF from workshop areas and changing all the asociated air handlers, make up air units, louvres, fans etc accordingly.  Then at the 90% we received requests for additional items including, extra partition walls in large office areas (total recalculation for the room(s) and equipment resizing), changing A/C to just ventilation in three warehouse rooms (more equipment redesign), Air Curtains over all roller doors (to stop flies and heat loss – a ‘helpful suggestion’ to the end user from one of my team) and all this with a week to do just after the thesis deadline.  The lack of communication between the design team has beenthe biggest frustration in this period.  It still happened that every day I log on and there is a change on the drawing that affects me considerably or the user has realised that something is not quite as they remember asking for and needs changing.  Part of the game I know but the inability to stick to the design requirements set out at the beginning of the project has added delays. The whole process is so rushed that any Contractor taking this on stands to make a fortune in changes due to design issues.  At least I won’t be around when that happens……..

Fort Belvoir VCC:  I attended the project kick off meeting in early April which turned out to be a classic case of ‘You can lead a horse to water…’ with some of the shareholders.  To recap, this is a visitors control centre which processes people attending mostly retirement functions who are not DoD employees.  A glorified guard room in short.  However this facility must also be a 24hr facility, blast protected and strategically placed, just in case the worst ahppens.  Located after the turn in to base but before the main gate, it is still a design that needs refining hence the meeting.  What started off as formality eventually ended in a 3 hour contradictory argument.  But to explain this I need pictures:

Option 1 the Garrison Teams favourite optioin

Option 2 Everyone elses favourite

From the start the Garrison maintenance team said option 1 was the only choice.  We questioned this because it clearly interferes with traffic going in to the main gate, causing a potential bottleneck which stop entry to the post or could easily be missed in which case the only way to get back to it is to go on to camp, turn around and go back on the highway.  We were politely told this would not happen because the only people using this facility were going to be going to retirement parties normally held mid morning, coming infrequently and that people turning around behind the gate is just what happens (I should add that this is the most heavily guarded gate I have seen in the US!).  When we pointed out option 2 offered a far less likely chance of causing obstruction because it could be accessed off the main highway and if we made this road 2 way and no one would ever need to go through the gate in order to turn round, thus improving security.  We were told that this choice would obstruct the rush hour traffic on the highway because up to 100 people could need passes all at the same time, any time of day (probably rush hour) and that the gate guards were quite happy waving people through to turn round!  There was still no resolution after 3 hours so it was left to an admiral to make the call.  I think he diplomatically chose a design that was a compromise.  From the mechanical point of view, one of the staff was keen to get renewable energy in to the building.  They wanted solar water heating and a geothermal heat pump.  We presented the case that solar water heating was not financially viable for a single toilet sink and that a geothermal heat pump would be $40,000 more than air source heat pump and would take over 30 years to pay back.  The customer went away unconvinced that money should be a barrier to green technology!  

Fort Drum UAV hangar:  Because the VCC was so small I was given the chance to put my radiant floor heating research to the test with my next project.  This is $30 million UAV hangar in Northern New York State where the minimum temperature is around -30 degrees and 35 degrees in the summer.  Most of the building is a standard design but the loads for the location need to be recalculated.  However the hangar floor (25,000 sq ft) is going to require full underfloor radiant heating and no one in my department has any experience so I get first go!  We have no design software for this so it is back to hand calcs to work out all the losses etc for sizing.  Still no idea how I will draw this system either.  And a 65% design is due in 2 weeks!

A UAV hangar

OPD:  In the USACE Officer Professional Development course we are given the chance to get an insight in to the responsibilites of the District from the eyes of the Commander which means seeing some pretty interesting stuff in the local area.  We started with an American PFT complete with 2 mile run, which we all passed, before heading off to the debris vessels.  These are used to keep the water ways clear of logs and other debris as well s scooping the bodies out when aircraft land in the Potomac.  Next was the Springfield site where a specialist team was clearing mustard gas and UXO from a former university house basement using equipment that would not look aout of place at USAMRICD.  This required great tact from the team in dealing with the public who are understandably twitchy about having UXO in theback yard!  We visited the Washington Aquaduct to see how USACE produces most of the water for the DC area before a visit to the new Intelligence Community Campus Building.  The current buildings are being ripped out, including the fascade, then are being rebuilt as lecture facilites to meet modern code as they were nearly all built in the 50’s and 60’s.  This propject had encountered numerous problems with the public, who did not want to see any new building and were against all construction (even if it is in the National interest).  This resulted in delays and a reduction in height of the multi storey carpark so that it is below tree top height.  Our next day started with a VIP trip to the Pentagon.  This building is absolutely enormous (2.4 times the floor space of the Empire State Building) and was modernised recently to be a little town with every single type of shop so no one ever needs to leave.  We were given a brief on the role USACE plays in the DoD and then saw the site of the 9/11 impact where a Chapel of Reflection commemorating those who died, is located. After a hasty lunch we tool the metro to the Capitol Building where were given a guided tour which included showing us the few areas the British did not burn down in the War of 1812.  We are able to see the Senate debating but this was not that exciting with only 2 senators in the chamber.  The final part of the experience was a trip to Arlington National Cemetary which is managed by USACE too and is still Army property.  The plot size is enormous and they are having to expand to meet the projected demand until 2050 (barring no more major wars obviously).  The most impressive part was seeing the guard change at the Tomb of the Unknown soldier.  If you think you can do rifle drill, google this and find out how it should be done!

And in other news:

The weather has been a little unpredictable recently, with a retaining wall collapsing that took half a street with it in central Baltimore.  The rivers rose 6ft in 12 hours and we are getting the same again tonight.  Wildfire season has started in California which only mention because the USMC base I was invited to in order to see the demo of the equipment mentioned at the briefing has just been evacuated!

I was able to volunteer for a STEM evening at a local Elementary school where the kids learned how to build bridges using toothpicks and marshmallows.  This was optional for the kids but amazingly we had 3 full classes and a merry time was had by all.

And on the home front Warrick is really enjoying baseball and develping a good swing, Ava has now turned 4 and we are making the most of the last few months by day tripping to New York, Philadelphia and Amish country with a  break in Ocean City due in 2 weeks.  So much to do so little time……