By Nick Gilbert
The Minister of National Defence, the Honourable Peter MacKay, has announced an investment for infrastructure developments at Canadian Forces Base (CFB) Wainwright. These proposed projects will improve existing facilities to meet the demanding needs of the Canadian Forces (CF), will help improve the operational efficiency of the Canadian Army, and will increase the competence of the base.
Minister MacKay issued a $14.8-million contract to Edmonton, Alberta-based KellerDenali Construction in order to renovate five existing structures and build two additional structures at the Canadian Manoeuvre Training Centre to accommodate the Opposing Force Facilities (OPFOR). The new building will be 5000 m2 large compared to the existing building of OPFOR. This new facility will provide increased accommodation, office, briefing and storage space.
Minister MacKay also issued a $39.3-million contract to Edmonton, Alberta-based Dowland Contracting to improve the Vehicle Maintenance Facility. This scheme will help consolidate all support and maintenance operations into a single building. This contract will renovate the current 9000 m2 building and construct nearly 12 000 m2 to house the updated vehicle fleet of Canadian Army that includes Leopard 2 tanks and the Light Armoured Vehicle III. In addition, the Minister issued four contract awards totaling roughly $827 000 for various renovations to base infrastructure.
There is a requirement to modernize and replace outdated defence infrastructure to meet the demands of the 21st century in keeping with the Canada First Defence Strategy. The Government of Canada carried out a competitive process to grant these contracts.
Source: http://www.forces.gc.ca