Bldg. 102, is a new 54-person dormitory for housing enlisted personnel. Photo: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
M-Plant is Thule’s main power plant that houses the latest energy-efficient exhaust gas boilers. Photo: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
Recent missile threats to the United States has the U.S. military look- ing up to its northernmost installation in Thule Air Base, Greenland. It’s there that the U.S. Air Force monitors the skies for missiles from its Arctic location strategically positioned at the halfway point between Washington, D.C., and Moscow. “Thule’s unique location makes it a key asset to the United States; however, its unique environment makes it a difficult asset to maintain,” said Dan Rodriguez, acting-deputy base civil engineer, Peterson Air Force Base. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New York District is doing some- thing to address both of these areas. They are performing a major base consolidation that will save energy, taxpayer money, and most impor- tantly improve U.S. Air Force readiness. Thule (pronounced “Two Lee”) is Latin for northernmost part of the inhabitable world. Thule Air Base is located in the northwestern corner of Greenland, in a coastal valley 700 miles north of the Arctic Circle and 950 miles south of the North Pole. A major consolidation at Thule Air Base in Greenland will save energy and taxpayer money and improve U.S. Air Force readiness. By JoAnne Castagna, Ed.D. Modernizing Artic assets
For over half a century, the base has been home to active-dutyAir Force members who live and work in this remote and harsh environment to provide national security. Throughout this time, the Army Corps, under extreme arctic weather conditions, has helped the base fulfill this mission by constructing many structures, including several dormitories, an aircraft runway, taxiways and aprons, and even a medical facility. Now the Army Corps is consolidating and modernizing the base. In the early 1950s, the base’s main mission was to be an aircraft refuel- ing stop. It was home to 10,000 U.S. military airmen and there were many buildings spread throughout the entire base. During the Cold War Era, the base’s mission changed and it is now performing missile warn- ing and space surveillance for the United States. Today, the base is home to 650 personnel — 200 are U.S. Military and the rest are Danish and Greenlandic residents. Many of the original buildings are still in use, but have become se- verely weatherworn; energy and fuel is being wasted to heat them and they are a distance to travel to. These buildings are also a distance from the base’s central heat plant. This requires maintaining long pipes to transport heat to these old buildings. The U.S. Air Force, as the rest of the U.S. military, has been on a mis- sion to save energy. Because of this, they decided to call on the Army Corps to consolidate the base.
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csengineermag.com
april 2018
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