Louisiana Gibson Regional Drainage Facility

Huitt-Zollars was selected by AMAFCA to design a regional storm-drainage detention facility at the Kirtland Air Force Base (KAFB) property. During the design process of the regional stormwater detention facility, the Air Force informed AMAFCA that the Gibson access gate into KAFB was becoming a security threat to KAFB because of repetitive “gate crashers," mainly due to the straight approach of Gibson to the security checkpoint. The Air Force requested assistance from AMAFCA to redesign the Gibson Gate entrance to KAFB. Huitt-Zollars helped the Air Force and AMAFCA in creating a team-driven design environment to expedite a roadway re-design, allowing the stormwater facility design to remain intact and the use of federal dollars to be utilized in a local agency lead contract. The entire planning through bidding process (including the additional road design) was completed by Huitt-Zollars within eight months. The City of Albuquerque coordination and review/approval was required through COA DRC, as the intersection of Louisiana and Gibson fell within City limits, while the remainder of the project fell within Kirtland Air Force Base jurisdiction and required federal approvals. Huitt-Zollars expedited design, bidding, and construction for this time-sensitive, multi-agency project which resulted in a new partnership and success story of teaming between federal and local agency design and construction.