Contract awarded to improve weather services
By Lookout on Jul 30, 2012 with Comments 0
Base Commander, Capt(N) Bob Auchterlonie; Chris Alexander, Ulrich Suesser and Chief of Staff, Capt(N) Luc Cassivi pose for a photo following a press conference announcing a major project.
Weather watching just got a boost.
Last Tuesday, Chris Alexander, Parliamentary Secretary to Minister of National Defence, announced a $61,980 contract has been awarded to renovate the Meteorological and Oceanographic Centre (METOC) at CFB Esquimalt.
Joining him at the Wardroom was Base Commander, Capt (N) Bob Auchterlonie; Chief of Staff, Capt(N) Luc Cassivi; and Officer in Charge of METOC, Ulrich Suesser.
Two other bases – CFB Gagetown and CFB Halifax – are being upgraded, collectively part of the $28.1 million Canadian Forces Weather and Oceanographic Service (CFWOS) Transformation Project.
“Weather services play a vital role in the operations of our personnel on all three coasts, and on deployments around the world,” said Parliamentary Secretary Alexander. “This project will help to achieve better results for our men and women in the field who depend so heavily on accurate information to make crucial decisions for the safety and security of Canadians. This project will make Canadian Forces weather more centralized, support technology and create a constant global weather watch, and allow us to deliver weather to our commanders on shore and at sea. Having accurate weather reports is especially important for our sailors and search and rescue technicians.”
The project includes the construction of a new wing at CFB Gagetown, renovations of the Meteorological and Oceanographic Centres at CFB Esquimalt and CFB Halifax, personnel relocation and the procurement of new information technology systems.
Stantec Consulting of Edmonton has been awarded the contract for design work associated with renovations at CFB Esquimalt and CFB Halifax, while the $5.1 million contract for construction of CFB Gagetown’s new wing has been awarded to Maxim 2000 Inc., of Saint John, New Brunswick.
The projects on all three bases are due to be completed by June 2014.
Shelley Lipke, Staff Writer
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