North Babil USACE projects register significant gains

5-17-08
http://www.blackanthem.com/News/U_S_Military_19/North-Babil-USACE-projects-register-significant-gains16590.shtml

Two key projects in Iraq 's North Babil province--the rehabilitation of a vocational-technical school and the construction of a maternity hospital--are registering significant gains.

The second phase of a three-pronged effort at the Iskandariyah Vo-Tech was just completed and an important third phase, to include refurbishing dormitories, will start soon, said Lt. Col. Gregory McMahan, head of the Forat Area Office of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

The Vo-Tech project is a top priority of Maj. Gen. Rick Lynch, commander of the Third Infantry Division, who views the project as critical because it provides job skills and expands options for young people in the area. The project is being funded with 3rd ID CERP (Commander's Emergency Response Program) funds and is being managed by USACE.

Also hitting its stride after a start slowed by a now-resolved land dispute is construction of a maternity and pediatrics hospital in Mussayyib. The contract for the job is nearly $5 million. Winbourne ("Mac") Drake, serving as a construction representative with GRS, voiced confidence that the job will continue to progress satisfactorily due to the close cooperation between the contractor and his local office.

This project will provide a 50-bed hospital, including a surgery wing, outpatient care, a premature infant nursery, and other maternity and pediatric care. The new hospital will replace a deteriorating hospital in the same city. McMahan said the work is of high quality, with special care being taken to provide an immaculate, attractive complex.

Construction is now about 40 percent completed. The hospital is projected to be finished is early October 2008.