Yuma Proving Ground (YPG), Yuma, AZ

The MRAP facility was designed to sit on 4 acres in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) YPG. At almost 8,000 square feet (SF), the 18-foot tall building was designed to house the mission specific administration, shop, and storage functions. This allowed for vehicle inspections, specific repair and adaptations, along with associated administration for support functions. GCE's civil engineering team generated the design development and construction document package in response to the functional and spatial program from the USACE and in coordination with the design guidelines of the YPG. The team produced the interior design to the required specifications for durable, comfortable, and sustainable materials that are conducive to the working environment. The project design used materials and a color palette that is necessary for the consistency with adjacent buildings. GCE's in-house engineering team produced all the site related design and construction documents.

The AI Building for the USACE provides an environment for the instrumentation assembly and installation involving mission specific vehicles. GCE performed this civil engineering design project in accordance with stringent and extensive requirements of Department of Defense Unified Facilities Criteria Standards, pertinent directives, and the YPG Installation Design Guide. The 7,500 SF building was designed as a flexible facility to house administration and storage functions. In addition, the facility included an instrumentation shop for high-level technicians to install, calibrate, and store data loggers, GPS monitoring units, and transducers. The shop area allows for twenty work benches for numerous high-level technicians to test specific electronic monitoring systems on ground vehicles. Equipment items are maintained in a high-level security environment, and the office area was designed to maintain control and monitor this inventory. GCE's civil engineering team designed the communications room with separate environmental controls to link and interface with data, voice, and security to other buildings within the YPG complex. The project design specifically accommodated the required limited visual capabilities of the vehicles by using a "pull thru" design plan. GCE's engineering team conducted the civil and geotechnical analysis as part of the professional services.