A further steel construction hall for the maintenance and repair of the German Army’s Puma infantry fighting vehicle (IFV) fleet at its Field Marshal Rommel Barracks in Augustdorf was handed over to Heeresinstandsetzungslogistik (HIL) GmbH on 24 August 2023, the company has announced.
This means that HIL now has three state-of-the-art maintenance halls at its Augustdorf site to optimally support the Bundeswehr.
HIL noted in a press release that it took only two years from the placing of the order for the maintenance hall to its completion, despite weather-related delays and delivery bottlenecks.
The project was successfully pursued by the Federal Office of Infrastructure, Environmental Protection and Services of the Bundeswehr (BAIUDBw), which acted as the client with its Construction Management Competence Centre in Düsseldorf, and the Bau- und Liegenschaftsbetrieb (BLB) North Rhine-Westphalia with its branch in Bielefeld, which was responsible for its implementation. The project also managed to keep within its advised cost framework of approximately EUR 2.4 M.
The largely single-storey new hall was built with a steel skeleton construction and six work stands, each measuring 7 × 15 m. One part of the hall will function as a parking and storage area, while another was built in lightweight construction as a two-storey office and functional area. A 7.5-tonne crane will allow a comprehensive array of tasks to be done on the work and storage stands.
In addition to its original old building, HIL in Augustdorf now has three of four planned maintenance halls at its disposal. The fourth is currently under construction and is scheduled for completion in 2025.
Commenting on the completion of the current hall, HIL Managing Director Sascha Franz was quoted by the company as saying, “All those involved have proven that fast construction can also work for the Bundeswehr if all players consistently work towards a common goal. Now it’s our turn: with the handover of Hall 312 to HIL GmbH, we will receive an important means to make our contribution to the operational readiness of the armed forces, the protection of our soldiers and the security of our country and its allies in Augustdorf even better than before in the future.”
Brigadier General Dr Michael A Tegtmeier, representing the BAIUDBw, added, “The key to the rapid implementation of this construction measure is the trusting as well as goal-oriented processing by the construction administration and my team in Düsseldorf, as well as the co-operative collaboration with HIL GmbH. The Field Marshal Rommel Barracks has already received impressive and future-oriented infrastructure in recent years and much will continue to happen in this regard in the coming years.”
Peter Felstead