High Explosive Science and Engineering (HESE) Facility

PROJECT

High Explosive Science and Engineering (HESE) Facility

We partnered with the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) to replace World War II-era buildings with modern facilities for the research, development and storage of high explosive materials.

We are working under a contract with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Tulsa District. The HESE Facility provides NNSA with the ability to perform computational and experimental research and to develop diagnostic tools for the evaluation, manufacturing support, surveillance, prototyping and testing of high explosive materials. The large complex of interconnected and hardened structures is composed of the Technology Development & Deployment Laboratory (TD&DL), the High Explosives Laboratory (HEL), and the High Explosive (HE) Staging Area.

The HESE Facility is part of the massive operating footprint of the Pantex Plant, which has approximately 650 buildings located on a 2,000-acre portion of an 18,000-acre site. Since this was the first project where NNSA used USACE as both a design and construction agent, the success of the HESE Facility was critical to both USACE Tulsa and CNS LLC, the M&O contractor.

Client

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Tulsa District

Location

Amarillo, Texas

Region

Southwest

Service

National Nuclear Security Administration

Industry

Government, Military & Municipal

Building a strong team.

To enhance understanding and communication between stakeholders, our team conducted a partnering session with USACE Tulsa, CNS, NNSA and the design team. During the partnering session, project goals were discussed and agreed upon.

At the conclusion of the partnering session, all stakeholders signed a design charter that signified their commitment to achieving the identified project goals.

Continuing the forum of open communication, weekly project status meetings promptly addressed and resolved priority issues. Our partnering approach kept the team informed and focused on the mission ahead, and avoided miscommunication and project delays.