{"id":38455,"date":"2019-08-12T21:19:48","date_gmt":"2019-08-12T21:19:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/uncategorized\/2019\/08\/12\/china-lake-repair-costs-might-top-2-billion\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T20:01:20","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T20:01:20","slug":"china-lake-repair-costs-might-top-2-billion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/home\/middle-column\/2019\/08\/12\/china-lake-repair-costs-might-top-2-billion\/","title":{"rendered":"China Lake repair costs might top $2 billion"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Twin Independence Day weekend earthquakes and thousands of aftershocks rocked the California hamlet of Ridgecrest<\/a>, buckling roads, igniting fractured natural gas lines and breaking home furnishing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Those tremors didn\u2019t spare Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake<\/a>, a base that begins about three miles north of town and continues to sprawl over 1.1 million acres.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Within its nearly 1,200 facilities, researchers created and tested some of the world\u2019s most advanced weapons \u2014 and then 6.4 and 7.1 magnitude quakes rippled through the Mojave Desert installation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To get China Lake back to what officials call a mission capable status, taxpayers might need to spend $2 billion, according to a government report provided to Navy Times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere was damage to a majority of the buildings and infrastructure,\u201d Capt. Mark K. Edelson, commanding officer of Naval Facilities Engineering Command Southwest<\/a>, wrote in an email to Navy Times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

More than half of the buildings were erected before 1980, some during World War II, so many structures lacked \u201ccurrent seismic standards,\u201d Edelson said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the wake of the quakes, Edelson said that about 20 percent of buildings are declared unsafe or now have use restriction. Many structures were damaged beyond \u201ceconomical repair and require replacement,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To put the extent of China Lake\u2019s damages into context, the Marines pegged the price to fix North Carolina\u2019s Camp Lejeune in the wake of Hurricane Florence at $3.6 billion<\/a>. It will run $420 million to rebuild portions of Offutt Air Force Base <\/a>after this spring\u2019s Missouri River flooding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Civilian Department of Defense personnel, assigned to Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake, dislodge damaged building equipment after multiple earthquakes rattled Kern County, Calif. in early July. (Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Arthurgwain L. Marquez\/Navy)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The report provided to Navy Times contains what Navy leaders say are still unofficial recommendations for new construction, but the estimated price tag is steep.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Projects likely to go unfinished until Fiscal Year 2021 could cost $1.7 billion \u2014 and that sum just covers the structures themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt is important to note this cost is a rough estimate for recovery of the facilities infrastructure only, and does not include specialized equipment, furniture, machine tools, telecommunications assets, consumables, or non-facilities costs\u201d that were damaged during the earthquakes, Edelson said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For example, China Lake\u2019s Hangar 3 houses advanced weaponry and manned aircraft and it suffered \u201cstructural cracking throughout hangar spaces and Weapons System Software Activity spaces,” the report said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The quake sheared bolts off support beams. Stairwells suffered seismic joint failure and separation. Fixtures on the structure\u2019s bracing snapped and bursting water pipes flooded the building.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The damage \u201crenders Test Squadron non-mission capable” and the report urges the \u201crelocation of Wing operations functions and personnel to other areas\u201d and temporary facilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Replacing Hangar 3 alone is estimated to cost nearly $350 million.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then there is the Michelson Laboratory. It houses Wing 8, a unit that tests advanced weapons technology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The lab was declared unsafe due to column and beam stress, major cracks throughout the facility\u2019s foundation and extensive damage to the facility\u2019s equipment and offices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Repairs are estimated to cost more than $270 million.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Additional hangars, as well as the base\u2019s primary air traffic control tower, also must be replaced, according to the report.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The base\u2019s propulsion lab \u2014 which features rocket components, guided missiles, free-fall weapons and other ordnance \u2014 revealed structural cracking, walls that bowed inward and dislodged heating, ventilation and air conditioning units.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLoss of China Lake Propulsion Laboratories results in inability to support critical weapons” and the damage cripples “mission capability to Combustion Sciences, ordnance, propulsion, and explosives synthesis, mixing, and casting activities,\u201d the report states.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Located in the western stretches of the Mojave Desert, Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake is larger than Rhode Island. (U.S. Geological Survey)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

More than 20 ammunition storage magazines are now \u201cunsuitable for continued use\u201d and no longer \u201cable to withstand blast pressures,” according to the report.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Aftershocks inflicted even more damage to the battered ammunition storage facilities, which support China Lake\u2019s primary mission as an air weapons station.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Base utilities also suffered extensive damage and authorities estimate they need to fix 150 water valves, 180 electrical transformers and 400 electrical poles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wastewater lines and natural gas systems remained untested at the time of the Navy\u2019s damage assessment report, but the report warned officials to \u201cexpect significant damage once normal operations of the base resume.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Navy engineering crews and private contractors have toiled to bring the base back to an operational tempo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On July 17, officials announced that all but seven of the 192 Public Private Venture houses had been cleared for occupancy, but nearly all non-essential personnel aboard China Lake were evacuated to Naval Base Ventura County and the threat of future tremors looms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite the extensive damage, a major rebuilding project also could streamline operations at China Lake, so NAVFAC is putting together a plan for all that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEngineers have begun developing scopes of work for more extensive contracted work,\u201d and \u201cmaster planning has begun to ensure that any replacement facilities are considered as opportunities to consolidate missions of multiple buildings into more efficient single facilities and sited to make the most efficient use of space and utilities,” Edelson said.<\/p>\n\n\n\t