Before the land can be filled, the natural organic layer of soil must be scraped away from the bed of the rice paddy before any soil can be placed. Once the foundation is prepared, fill soil is placed on top. The soil is brought in by dump truck and piled 1 to 7 meters high. To acquire the enormous amount of fill necessary, contractors subcontracted with other companies to haul away soil from construction sites in the greater Pyeongtaek area and beyond.

Before any structures can go up, water must be allowed to escape from the fill thereby permitting the soil to settle. This is a process that could naturally take about four years. To expedite the process, prefabricated vertical drains (PVDs) are used to accelerate settlement time to a matter of months. The PVD gives water a clear path to leave the soil allowing it to compact. Once compacted, construction can begin.

Total construction quantities to complete the project include:

• 11 million cubic meters of engineered fill;
• All new water, gas, sewer, and electric distribution systems, with associated treatment plants and substations for each utility totaling about 40 miles each;
• New C4I (command, control, communications, computers, and intelligence) will be 42 miles of trench and approximately 1,000 miles of cable;
• Demolition of more than 300 outdated facilities, totaling approximately 1.9 million square feet;
• Construction of 641 new facilities, totaling nearly 27 million square feet; and
• 2.7 million cubic meters of concrete, equal to about 456,900 ready-mix truck loads.

Vertical construction has begun on parcels 1 and K, and is already well under way. When Greg H. Reiff, area engineer of FED Humphreys Area Office, briefed the USACE Pacific Ocean Division Regional Management Board in April 2010, he said that they probably would not recognize U.S. Army Garrison Humphreys within a year.

“Although there are only isolated areas of active construction at the time, the entire site will be under either vertical or horizontal construction by this time next year,” said Reiff.

Since then, Reiff deployed to Afghanistan and when he returned six months later, he realized that he was correct.

At that time, the only vertical structures were six barracks under construction on Parcel 1 of the new land by Hanwha Engineering & Construction Corp. Since then, a lot has changed.

Today, the barracks have been turned over to the garrison. Seohee Construction Co., Ltd., (Parcel 1) and Hanjin (Parcel K) are in the final stages of installing roads and drainage within their respective parcels.

Three vehicle maintenance facilities are under construction. Two of them are being built by eTEC E&C Limited, and the other by Hanwha. These will also include five company operations areas each.

The 384-unit senior leaders quarters Phase 1 is under construction and scheduled for completion in May 2012. Design for Phase 2 is in the early stages. Once both phases are completed, there will be a total of 1,152 living quarters’ units that are designed to improve the quality of life for unaccompanied senior noncommissioned officers (NCOs) and officers.

Utilities infrastructure by SK E&C, Daewoo, and GS Engineering & Construction Corp., are still under way. The scope of work for Parcel 1 alone included moving 3.2 million cubic meters of soil, which is enough to fill the Hoover Dam. The total fill requirements involve hauling 11 million cubic meters of soil. The total truck miles to haul fill to the site will be approximately equal to 1,700 trips around the equator.

For those on accompanied tours, not too far away on Parcel K are the new Family Housing Towers under construction by Daelim Industrial Co., Ltd.

The scope is to construct three multistory family housing apartment towers to accommodate a total of 210 senior NCOs through field-grade officers and their families. There will be 140 three-bedroom units, 52 four-bedroom units, and 18 five-bedroom units.

Two of the three towers were designed to accommodate 72 dwelling units and one tower to accommodate 66 dwelling units with modern equipment and appliances. The complex includes ancillary facilities such as “tot lots,” multi-age playgrounds, and one underground parking garage connecting the three towers to accommodate 285 vehicles.

“Supporting our troops’ families is paramount to making Korea the assignment of choice,” said Degidio. “The FED team is making this happen literally right in front of our eyes at USAG Humphreys and elsewhere on the peninsula. We look forward to continuing our service to the ROK-U.S. Alliance by building strong in Korea.”

Part of FED’s commitment to the ROK-U.S. Alliance was realized when the new schools on Parcel K by Samsung Consortium began in September. These are the first vertical YRP projects and are scheduled for completion in time for the 2013-2014 school year.

There will be several schools built on Humphreys eventually, but currently only the high school and elementary school are under construction.

“These schools are based on Department of Defense Dependents Schools [DoDDS] specifications and will be very much comparable to U.S. schools,” said Keysha Cutts, FED project manager for the schools.

An exciting feature about the new high school will be its full-sized stadium, which means the school will be home to a football team. The stadium, with artificial turf, announcer box, and scoreboards will be a first for DoDDS schools in Korea.

The high school is designed to be expandable to accommodate up to 1,600 students as relocation approaches completion, but the cafeteria, gym, and stadium will already be built to that capacity.

The USAG Humphreys’ community is anxiously awaiting the opening of these two new schools, especially the high school. Currently, high school students must be bused from USAG Humphreys to Osan Air Base, which can sometimes take up to 45 minutes.

“This school is a big deal to the Humphreys community,” said Cutts.

Farther out on Parcel 2, landfill, roads, and utility infrastructure are still under way. Structures have already gone vertical on this site. These include a Korea Electric Power Corporation substation, four barracks, three dining facilities, a headquarters building, and two tactical equipment maintenance facilities.

“The infrastructure being built here at USAG Humphreys will go a long way towards supporting the service members in Korea,” said Degidio. “I can tell you from experience that strong service members are essential for a strong alliance.  That’s why we are building strong in Korea.”

The current USAG Humphreys will grow into a place where approximately 44,000 troops, family members, local employees, and contractors will live and work.  The relocation of U.S. forces is a complex project requiring major expansions and upgrades to all existing infrastructure including land development. All of this will be accomplished within four to six years under the YRP and LPP with the final result being a new home for troops and families on a raised surface safe from flooding and ready to be a world-class installation. These projects and more demonstrate FED’s commitment to building strong in Korea.

This article first appeared, under a different title, in the 2011-2012 edition of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers: Building Strong®, Serving the Nation and the Armed Forces publication.