It is pretty amazing that the level of construction of the Camp Humphreys expansion is the largest US military construction project since the construction of the Panama Canal:
The new Brian Allgood Army Community Hospital under construction at Camp Humphreys, South Korea, on April 24, 2015. Armando R. Limon/Stars and Stripes
Dump trucks are rolling, and more than 10,000 workers are hammering and pouring concrete for 630 new buildings at this sprawling Army post in the South Korean port city of Pyeongtaek.
This is the peak construction year for the $10.7 billion project, which will see Camp Humphreys triple in size to accommodate tens of thousands of soldiers and civilians moving south as the U.S. vacates much of Yongsan Garrison in Seoul and two dozen other facilities used since the Korean War.
“It is, essentially, building a compound the size of (downtown) Washington, D.C.,” Maj. Gen. James T. Walton, U.S. Forces Korea’s director for Transformation and Restationing, said recently.
Construction will continue at a reduced rate next year, when the bulk of U.S. forces are due to move south. By the end of 2017, most of the moves will be complete, he said.
Construction began in November 2006 on the largest U.S. military project since the Panama Canal. The base will house 36,000, including servicemembers, dependents, civilian employees, contractors and Korean augmentees to the U.S. Army (KATUSAs), Walton said. [Stars & Stripes]
