CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Building a new launch pad isn't as easy as pouring a slab of concrete. A pad is a complex system of building materials, wiring, pipes carrying volatile fuels and computers, often incorporating untried technology.
Problems happen.
For instance, you know that 275-foot-high retractable door on launch pad 41's new Vertical Integration Facility, the building that holds the towering Atlas 5 rocket? The "megadoor," as some call it, made of reinforced fabric, fell down during construction.
"In that case, the manufacturer just replaced the door," said Julie Andrews, spokeswoman for Lockheed Martin, the company that built pad 41 to launch Atlas 5.
Contractors try to build enough flexibility into the budget to handle such problems.
"I'm sure, as with any large construction project, there are reserves for unexpected things that you just can't anticipate," Andrews said.
But there are differences between this job and other big military projects. While Boeing and Lockheed Martin developed their pads on government property and with the help of $500 million each in taxpayer subsidies, they operated under a contract that limited the military's oversight of quality control, safety and other issues.
While the Air Force said it did not get contractor performance reviews or collect documents tracking the construction, observers inside and outside the Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicles program said the pads were basically built on schedule and with no more problems than any other major construction project. "Both jobs went real smooth. . . . Every job, you're going to have stuff that you (say), 'Uh-oh, that ain't going to work. Let's go back to the drawing board,' " said Frank Pawela, business representative for the Ironworkers Local 808 Union in Orlando, which had workers on both jobs.
Sometimes the problems are more tragic.
Two workers died building Boeing's launch pad 37, which is expected to launch the first Delta 4 rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in October. One man, working for a subcontractor, was killed disassembling a pipe coupling that was under pressure. Another, a Boeing employee, was pinned and crushed to death by a crane.
Since the staff on pad 37 has shrunk to mostly Boeing employees, there's been a renewed emphasis on following procedures and "heightened awareness" of safety, launch director Joy Bryant said.
Whether the contractor is fixing wiring errors or redesigning a component, a quality control staff makes sure facilities are meeting industry standards.
Marty Del Castillo of Cape Canaveral worked as an independent contractor in quality control for pad 41 builder Hensel Phelps Construction Co. and its subcontractors. He monitored progress and testing during construction, reporting back to Lockheed Martin, which owns the pad.
It wasn't an easy job, because the plan changed as work progressed. "Being as this thing never existed before, people were reviewing the design as the project went along," said Castillo, president of Quality Documentation and Inspection Services.
Because pads 37 and 41 were built under a program with reduced government control and oversight, the complexes did not have to be constructed to Air Force specifications, which Del Castillo said can cost more.
"Nowadays we have better material and we have standard practices that really take care of the concerns they had," he said. In addition, he said, older government standards required contractors to be highly specialized, "and those people would typically be very expensive," he said.
"There could have been improvements, just like in anything, but one thing to consider is this was sort of a unique operation," Castillo said. "I think the money was well spent."
Published under license from FLORIDA TODAY. Copyright © 2002 FLORIDA TODAY. No portion of this material may be reproduced in any way without the written consent of FLORIDA TODAY.
advertisement
