TL:DRArmy and Navy barracks may one day be 3D printed or built using mass timber construction that involves large wooden structural beams manufactured from smaller lumber.
Today on Capitol Hill, Dave Morrow, director of military programs for Army Corps of Engineers, and Keith Hamilton, chief engineer for Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command, met with lawmakers from the House appropriations committee, subcommittee on military construction, veterans affairs, and related agencies, to discuss the current and potential future uses of innovative construction techniques and technologies by the armed forces.
Additive construction — 3D printing buildings — high performance cement and concrete mixes, geosynthetics, mass timber, composite materials, industrialized construction, tension fabric structures and carbon fiber reinforced polymers were all part of the discussion with lawmakers about how the Army and Navy can develop the most cost efficient and resilient military construction projects.In an increasingly complex global security environment, our commitment to innovation in military construction is not just about building structures, it's about building the resilience and readiness our forces need to prevail," Morrow said. "By working with industry to leverage these advancements, we can deliver more durable, sustainable and cost-effective infrastructure for our military, ensuring taxpayer dollars are used efficiently, while equipping our troops with the best facilities in the world."
The Army Corps of Engineers, Morrow said,
has already piloted 3D printed construction at Tyndall Air Force Base, Florida, and Fort Bliss, Texas. At Fort Bliss, three new projects involving barracks were constructed using 3D printing technology. Morrow said this technology can be used in garrison or in expeditionary environments.
"Additive construction has [the] potential to reduce costs, manpower, logistics and time, while opening the door for improved and new applications, such as unconventional countermeasures," he told lawmakers. The USACE's Engineer Research and Development Center has played a part in the development of unified facilities criteria, to allow additive construction in 80% of the United States, Morrow said. The criteria, developed jointly, sets basic technical requirements that must be followed to deliver code-compliant, complete and usable military facilities.
In Hampton Roads, Virginia, the Navy is now piloting the use of mass timber, also called cross-laminated timber, for construction of a child development center, Hamilton said.
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My Thoughts 💭
Well the DoD is looking to use mass timber and 3D printing to lower cost. I’m shocked Congress isn’t bending over backwards to give even more money to the DoD to pursue these yet to be proven construction methods that ideally cut costs and speed up construction delivery.