The U.S. Government Accountability Office recently published a report criticizing my good friends in the Bureau of Overseas Buildings Operations for failing to maintain the rapid pace they had previously set in the Capital Security Construction Program, that long-term program for replacing our most vulnerable overseas diplomatic facilities with 'safe, secure, and modern' new buildings.
You can read the GAO report at a publicly available source of information here: Embassy Construction: Pace Is Slower Than Projected, and State Could Make Program Improvements. A couple excerpts will provide the background for that long-term new embassy building program:
Following the bombings in Africa, the Secure Embassy Construction and Counterterrorism Act of 1999 required State to develop and report a list of diplomatic facilities scheduled for replacement based on their vulnerability to terrorist attack. One of the congressional findings in the Secure Embassy Construction and Counterterrorism Act of 1999 was that unless embassy vulnerabilities are addressed in a sustained and financially realistic manner, the lives and safety of U.S. employees in diplomatic facilities will continue to be at risk from further terrorist attacks. State subsequently initiated the CSCP [Capital Security Construction Program] to construct new embassies. The CSCP is administered by OBO. [Page 10]
In general, according to OBO policy, the CSCP is guided by Diplomatic Security’s annual Security Environment Threat List of security rankings for posts, from which OBO develops a “Top 80” list of the 80 most at-risk posts needing a new embassy. OBO uses the Top 80 list to develop and adjust the CSCP schedule, which presents planned embassy awards for the current fiscal year and for each of the next 5 fiscal years. [Page 26]
Well, I'm not sure I share the GAO's concern about the slowing pace of new construction starts, because this past week - which, as you government-employed people, know is the start of a new Fiscal Year - OBO signed a bundle of new design or construction contracts. Here are the press releases:
The Department of State announces the selection of Skidmore, Owings, and Merrill of San Francisco, California as the design architect for the new U.S. Embassy complex in Windhoek, Namibia ... The multi-building complex will be situated on a site in the Klein Windhoek neighborhood and will provide a safe, secure, and modern facility platform for the Embassy community and those it serves.
The Department of State has awarded the construction contract for the new U.S. Embassy in New Delhi, India to B.L. Harbert International of Birmingham, Alabama ... This complex will provide a safe, secure, and modern facility platform for the Embassy community and those it serves. Weiss/Manfredi Architects of New York, New York is the architect for the project.
The Department of State has awarded the construction contract for the new U.S. Embassy in Tegucigalpa, Honduras to B.L. Harbert International of Birmingham, Alabama ... This complex will provide a safe, secure, and modern facility platform for the Embassy community and those it serves. SHoP Architects of New York, New York is the architect for the project.
The Department of State announces the selection of Miller Hull Partnership of Seattle, Washington as the design architect for the new U.S. Consulate General project in Merida, Mexico ... The multi-building complex will be situated on an approximately seven acre site in the Via Montejo development and will provide a safe, secure, and modern facility platform for the Consulate community and those it serves.
The Department of State has awarded the construction contract for the new U.S. Consulate General project in Guadalajara, Mexico to B.L. Harbert International of Birmingham, Alabama ... This complex will provide a safe, secure, and modern facility platform for the Consulate community and those it serves. Miller Hull Partnership, LLP of Seattle, Washington is the design architect for the project and Page of Washington, D.C. is the architect of record.
The Department of State has awarded the construction contract for the new U.S. Consulate General project in Hermosillo, Mexico to B.L. Harbert International of Birmingham, Alabama ... This complex will provide a safe, secure, and modern facility platform for the Consulate community and those it serves. Richard + Bauer of Phoenix, Arizona is the design architect for the project and Page of Washington, D.C. is the architect of record.
That's six new embassies and consulates now under contract, which is not too shabby. Also, it creates six new slots on that Top 80 list of most at-risk posts for consideration in next year's prioritized contract awards. And for the year after that, and so on, for as long as Congress keeps the Capital Security Construction Program money coming.
6 comments:
Looks like B L Harbert has a little bit of an in as far as these types of projects.
JH
JH: They must like the work. Harbert was one of the main construction contractors OBO used when they did Standard Embassy Designs, so they know how to work with OBO. Many companies do one project for OBO and then decide not to bid on more.
TSB: You gotta like this girl! I remember her being smeared as coming from a well off neighborhood and faking all this "regular working person" stuff by the MSM. A year ago she was a bartender and now she's in Congress and has health care for the first time.
https://www.cnbc.com/2018/11/08/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-cant-afford-to-rent-an-apartment-in-dc.html
Rent where she lives has gone up a LOT and DC apartments are totally out of reach. Probably the best thing that Bernie produced. gwb Hey, I hear Gillum might have a recount coming down there where they always monkey around with the vote counting. gwb
Good for Bolshevik Barbie that she'll soon start a job that comes with a paycheck and benefits. Ill kind of surprised she hasn't skipped right over the serving-in-Congress part and gone straight to an MSNBC gig.
Of course, once Millennials start getting paychecks, that's usually when they start to look twice at those payroll deductions, and from there it's a short hop to wondering whether all of the poor really deserve that welfare.
"By the time you hit your 30s most of you are going to be massively right-wing anyway."
https://twitter.com/TraceyFans/status/1009806379593367552
Same thing with Corp of engineers work. A lot of contractors go broke on the first job. They have to learn the specs etc are enforced and the Corp doesn't mess around.
JH
TSB: Move Over Uber! Your Doctor Has A Robot To Die For! https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-11-16/surgical-robot-spirals-out-control-kills-man-docs-sipped-lattes On the bright side, this was the first time this machine was ever used to do a heart valve repair so I'm sure things will go better next time. Anyone wish to volunteer?? gwblol
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