This month’s project update focuses on the Container Handling Building (CHB) currently under construction at the Blue Grass plant. Once the plant is operational, the CHB will provide a safe and secure storage area as the chemical munitions’ first stop at the plant.

This more than 22,000 square-foot, one-story, steel-framed structure will receive chemical munitions from their storage igloos in protective Enhanced On-site Containers. Once in the CHB, those containers will be transferred into the Munitions Demilitarization Building for the unpacking and eventual destruction of their contents.

CHB construction began with earthwork in the summer of 2014. Since that time, workers placed approximately 1,000 cubic yards of concrete to form the foundation, and installed the steel building skeleton, the walls and roof. Workers recently completed the masonry firewall between the CHB and the main processing facility and technicians installed two large overhead doors. Current construction activities include installation of conduits, electrical boxes, equipment and permanent lighting fixtures, as well as fire detectors and fire-suppression equipment.

Next steps for the CHB include testing building systems and preparing the structure for the systemization phase.