Fleet Activities Chinhae Scores With New Sports Complex

By Ron Inman, Naval Facilities Engineering Command Far East Public Affairs

CHINHAE, Republic of Korea (NNS) -- Sailors and their families at Commander Fleet Activities Chinhae (CFAC), Korea can now serve aces, spike heat and score ringers to their hearts' content with the opening of a state-of-the-art sports complex Sept. 9.

The facility also includes lighted tennis and sand volleyball courts and a horseshoe pit.

The complex took a year to build, and was the result of a collective effort by Naval Mobile Construction Battalions (NMCB) 40, 1, and 11, from June 2009 to July 2010.

Each battalion worked on different aspects of the project, including the installation of a chain link fence, a cushioned tennis court surface application, and painting.

"It's always a rewarding experience for both the crew and leadership when a project is finished," said Lt. j.g. Derek Boogaart, NMCB 11 detail Chinhae officer in charge. "It's not very often that a Seabee gets to see what the project they built is used for, much less use it themselves. It gives every Seabee the feeling that they made a difference and makes all the hard work they contributed, worth it."

Lt. Brent Uyehara, CFAC Public Works Department public works officer, said in addition to the obvious benefits to the CFAC community, the project has been a good opportunity for the Seabees of Detail Chinhae to hone their skills.

"In general, Seabees deploy on detachments like this to develop their critical construction skills that they can use during contingency operations," Uyehara said. "In this case, they did a lot of earth work involving Seabee heavy equipment operations requiring excavators, bulldozers and rollers - all good training for Equipment Operators, Construction Mechanics and Engineering Aides for surveying and laying elevations and site layouts. They also did some cast-in-place, reinforced concrete work as well as run plumbing and electrical utilities, which is good experience for Builders, Steel Workers, Utilities Workers and Construction Electricians.

These skills related to Seabees' specific job specialties are known as "in-rate" skills. Uyehara explained that the project consisted of displacing several hundred cubic meters of earth from a fairly steep sloped hillside to form a terrace.

Seabees then built retaining walls using special formwork lined with rock-wall pattern inlays to leave a decorative textured finish. Once the walls were placed, Seabees formed and placed the concrete sidewalk which runs around the perimeter of the adjacent tennis and sand volleyball courts.

The finished project included an energy-efficient lighting system that provides ample light for patrons using the courts at night.