Photo By Chief Petty Officer Michael Lindsey | Seabees assigned to Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 74, deployed to southern...... read more read more
HELMAND PROVINCE, Afghanistan - Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 74 began construction of an Ammo Supply Point in Helmand province, Afghanistan. The project began, July 21, with NMCB-5 and was turned over to NMCB-74, Aug. 18. NMCB-74 took control of the project at 15 percent completion and has built five additional ammo cells since turnover.
The ASP is situated on a large piece of land that contains several "U" shaped cells or bunkers where small and heavy ammunitions can be stored temporarily and safely. Although currently functional, there is much more land to be leveled and cells to be constructed before the battalion completes the project.
The ammo cells are fortified using HESCO units, commonly referred to as Hescos. According to the manufacturer's website, a Hesco is a prefabricated multi-cellular defense system made of galvanized steel weld mesh and lined with non-woven polypropylene geo-textile.
In simple terms, a Hesco is a series of large galvanized steel weld mesh baskets, which are lined with a canvas like material. Each Hesco comes flat packed for transportation and must be assembled using joining pins. Once constructed, the Hesco is filled with available material such as dirt and rocks making them an effective barrier.
"The process of constructing an ammo cell is very tedious and requires good teamwork," said Petty Officer 1st Class Lance Miller, equipment operator, project supervisor. "The rough and final pads that the Hescos are placed on must be of the correct slope and height, and packed to 3,000 pounds per square inch to function correctly."
With crews working 12 hours-a-day and six days-a-week, each ammo cell takes about three weeks to build from the ground up.
"The first step in building an ammo cell is getting the area around the cell as level as possible," said Miller. "We cut and fill the area with dirt and then create a rough pad, which is a raised platform with a slight slope for drainage."
"Assembling the Hesco is the hardest part of the project, but everyone here knows their job and is really good at doing it," added Steven Lewis, construction mechanic constructionman, ASP crew member.
To avoid the high temperatures, the crews work at night using portable light plants and vehicle headlights for illumination, but as of Sept. 14, the crew switched to daylight hours. Temperature is not the only challenge in the desert conditions, sand is an obstacle as well.
"It is still hot out here but we can see easier and move a lot faster now," said Lewis.
"It is very challenging to keep the equipment running with all the dust," said Miller. "The air filters must be cleaned twice a day, and the equipment has many parts that require grease for lubrication."
Miller explained that the sand in Afghanistan is a very fine powder-like substance that collects on the grease and causes equipment failure.
"Just about every day something breaks down despite all of our preventive maintenance," said Miller.
There is still much work to be done and many long, hot days for the Seabees on the project, but the effort is well worth it. The ASP is built to last with little maintenance and is already playing a key role in Operation Enduring Freedom.
| Date Taken: | 09.22.2009 |
| Date Posted: | 10.12.2009 05:29 |
| Story ID: | 39975 |
| Location: | HELMAND PROVINCE, AF |
| Web Views: | 535 |
| Downloads: | 377 |
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