The future of Army and Navy barracks could be 3D-printed or built using “increasingly competitive” cross-laminated timber – that is, according to Dave Morrow, director of military programs for the Army Corps of Engineers, and Keith Hamilton, chief engineer for Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command, who spoke to lawmakers at Capitol Holl yesterday.
The admissions come days after the White House ordered a National Security probe into imports under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, given the military’s reliance on timber volumes for projects.
In addition to mass timber and 3D printing, Morrow and Hamilton said the US Army and Navy are also testing high-performance cement and concrete mixes, geosynthetics, composite materials, industrialised construction, tension fabric structures, and carbon fibre-reinforced polymers to develop the most cost-efficient and resilient military projects.
“In an increasingly complex global security environment, our commitment to innovation in military construction is not just about building structures; it’s about building the resilience and readiness our forces need to prevail. By working with industry to leverage these advancements, we can deliver more durable, sustainable and cost-effective infrastructure for our military, ensuring taxpayer dollars are used efficiently while equipping our troops with the best facilities in the world.”
Dave Morrow, director of military programs for the Army Corps of Engineers, met with members of the House Subcommittee for Defence on Capital Hill yesterday.
Already, Morrow said the Army is using 3D printing in three projects (at Tyndall Air Force Base, Florida, and Fort Bliss, Texas) – perfect for garrison and expeditionary environments: “Additive construction has [the] potential to reduce costs, manpower, logistics and time, while opening the door for improved and new applications, such as unconventional countermeasures.”
While at Hampton Roads in Virginia, Hamilton said the Navy is piloting cross-laminated timber in a child development centre. In his testimony before the subcommittee, Hamilton said the facility would use a hybrid mass timber exterior envelope of cross-laminated walls and diaphragms: “DOD (Department of Defence) has expressly acknowledged the applicability of CLT with the creation of a guide specification.”
“As the CLT construction industry matures, CLT may prove more competitive and could be utilised more broadly in DEPARTMENT OF DEFENCE construction.”
Keith Hamilton, chief engineer for Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command, who spoke to the House Subcommittee on Defence about the potential for mass timber to replace concrete-based installations.
Already, the US Army is working with mass timber on projects, Morrow said, with the US Army Corp Engineers leading the world with a “first of its kind” policy prioritising cross-laminated timber, glulam, dowel-laminated timber, nail-laminated timber and laminated-veneer-lumber:
“We recently designed the Army’s first barracks made primarily with mass timber structural elements and are soliciting interest in the construction of a project at Mountain Home Air Force Base, calling for the incorporations of mass timber design,” Morrow said, adding that mass timber construction could reduce construction timelines.
- Click here to learn more about how the US Army is testing new and improved versions of cross-laminated timber to withstand a one-in-250-year earthquake.
