Auditors review $1.3B project at Offutt Air Force Base

By

The Associated Press

Carpenters work on a stem wall for the footing foundation of a new dormitory being built next to Tuskegee Hall at Offutt Air Force Base, Neb., on Aug. 17, 2017. The dormitory is scheduled for completion in February 2019. (Delanie Stafford/Air Force)

OFFUTT AIR FORCE BASE, Neb. — The $1.3 billion construction of a new headquarters for the U.S. Strategic Command at Offutt Air Force Base is being audited by the Defense Department.

The Omaha World-Herald reports Congress ordered the investigation because the cost of the project has grown nearly 10 percent and the project has fallen at least 20 months behind schedule because of design flaws and mold problems.

Auditors have already visited the site twice.

Col. John Hudson with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Omaha District says it’s not unusual for projects this big to be reviewed. The Corps is managing the project.

The building was originally scheduled to be done in September 2016. Now the Corps hopes to finish its work by this August.