Photo By James Lentz | Two years ago, demolition began in Tobyhanna Army Depot’s Building 1A, which is part...... read more read more
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TOBYHANNA ARMY DEPOT, Pa. — Two years of modernization has rendered the original interior of Building 1A unrecognizable.
The space, known as the maintenance and mission operation center, is the core of productivity for electronics workers, planners, production controllers, quality improvement specialists and engineers. Today, the depot’s largest building looks nothing like it did in 2015 when contractors started demolition in the 50-year-old structure.
When the project is complete, Tobyhanna will have a modern facility with a more reliable and efficient infrastructure. Contractors are on track to finish the project on time and within budget.
The Building 1A project involved the reconstruction of the first floor and mezzanine, including the electronics enclosure. Building 1A is part of Building 1, which is 1.15 million square feet and houses 61 percent of the depot’s missions.
The multi-million dollar transformation is scheduled for completion this fall. Plans are already underway to move roughly 700 employees from their temporary locations to their new digs by early next year — 500 into the office space by Christmas and 200 into the enclosure by February.
As things continue to take shape in preparation for occupancy, depot officials want to point out that the area is still considered a construction zone. Although it may look like it is safe to take a peek at the progress so far, it’s not. There are hazards in the area.
“Employees are asked to follow the safety protocols set in place when the project began,” said Pete Moore, a mechanical engineer in the Installation Services Directorate. “Thank you for your continued patience as we wrap up the remaining items in the project. It won’t be much longer and the building will be open to the public.”
The move into the Building 1A office space will be accomplished in three phases. The first directorate to move will be Continuous Process Improvement (CPI). Production Engineering (PE) will be second and Production Management will be third. Once that’s done, personnel assigned to the electronics enclosure will return to their new state-of-the-art facility.
“Moving to the newly renovated space is going to be energizing for our teams,” said William Ramey, CPI director. “The new workstations will drive even more collaboration than we have now and the access to personnel throughout the directorates will be very beneficial.”
A move of this size is an enormous undertaking where many things need to be taken into consideration. Industrial Engineering Technician Dana Bilotta is charged with making the best use of square footage when it comes to relocating employees and equipment while the depot upgrades its infrastructure. Although she has dozens of things to coordinate, the employees have little to worry about when moving from point A to B.
“We will mirror the steps taken when everyone moved out of Building 1A,” Bilotta said. “Personnel will be responsible for purging, packing and labeling their personnel and professional items. I will be giving instructions at the home team meetings so everyone will know what to expect.” Bilotta works in Production Engineering.
Contractors will move all the computers, boxes and other necessary items to their new location.
Modifications to the interior layout of the building improve access between areas and overall workflow.
“The modernization of Building 1A will definitely result in Tobyhanna having world class facilities well into the future,” said Robert Katulka, PE director. “In addition, the work environment for our employees will be significantly improved. Overall we anticipate our folks will be impressed with the new work space.”
One of the things employees can look forward to is an open concept design, according to Moore. He explained that everything was designed according to current trends and best industry practices to create a quality work environment. Highlights include lots of natural light, overhead LED lights, spacious cubicles, new chairs, and desks that have a sit/stand work surface.
There are six restrooms in the building’s footprint, four of which have been renovated. Furthermore, three new personnel elevators are strategically located in the 175,000 square foot structure.
The electronics enclosure boasts a raised floor that can be reconfigured for changing mission needs and is certified according to Aerospace Standards 9100/9110 standards and electrostatic discharge requirements.
“The electronics enclosure will have all new work benches, tool cabinets, a locker room and break space,” said Bilotta. “What’s more, employees will have access to three common areas on the first floor, and seven common areas on the second floor.”
Additional improvements to Building 1A include the heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) system, which was upgraded to a modern chilled water system. New plumbing and sewer systems were also installed.
Moore explained that the new insulation on the walls and roof will reduce heating and cooling loss and increase thermal efficiency. Those improvements, coupled with the high-efficiency HVAC system, means employees will notice better temperature control and air flow throughout the building.
“Once we start moving people back into 1A, we’ll enter the final phases of the modernization,” Moore said. “The cafeteria will be relocated to a space on the first floor that used to house the U.S. Army Test, Measurement and Diagnostic Equipment Support Center mission and the Guardrail/CREW Duke shop will get a much needed upgrade.”
Tobyhanna Army Depot is a recognized leader in providing world-class logistics support for command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance systems across the Department of Defense. Tobyhanna's Corporate Philosophy, dedicated work force and electronics expertise ensure the depot is the Joint C4ISR provider of choice for all branches of the Armed Forces and industry partners.
Tobyhanna's unparalleled capabilities include full-spectrum logistics support for sustainment, overhaul and repair, fabrication and manufacturing, engineering design and development, systems integration, post production software support, technology insertion, modification, foreign military sales and global field support to our Joint Warfighters.
About 3,200 personnel are employed at Tobyhanna, which is located in the Pocono Mountains of northeastern Pennsylvania. Tobyhanna Army Depot is part of the U.S. Army Communications-Electronics Command. Headquartered at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, the command’s mission is to research, develop, acquire, field and sustain communications, command, control computer, intelligence, electronic warfare and sensors capabilities for the Armed Forces.
| Date Taken: | 07.11.2017 |
| Date Posted: | 10.13.2017 14:18 |
| Story ID: | 240797 |
| Location: | TOBYHANNA ARMY DEPOT, PENNSYLVANIA, US |
| Web Views: | 25 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Major modernization at Tobyhanna nears completion, by Jacqueline Boucher, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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