Guam company secures unique contract with potential for $225.67 million
Black Micro Corp. – an affiliate of Black Construction Corp. with headquarters in Guam – was awarded a $221.69 million “firm-fixed price contract” at Tinian International Airport for “construction of a cargo pad with taxiway extension, fuel tanks with receipt pipeline and hydrant system, airfield development Phase I roads, and a maintenance support facility, under the Asia Pacific Stability Initiative,” according to an April 24 release from Naval Facilities Engineering and Systems Command Pacific in Hawaii, which made the award.
The award was due to be made “on or before” April 17, according to Journal files, which necessitated a special meeting of the Commonwealth Ports Authority concerning land leases and the fuel line pipeline that will traverse them from the Port of Tinian.
According to Tutor Perini Corp. – parent company of Black Construction – the contract contains three unexercised options, which if exercised, will increase the contract value to $225.67 million.
Work is expected to begin immediately with “substantial completion” anticipated by October 2026, according to an April 24 release from Tutor Perini Corp.
The project is known as the Tinian Divert Airfield. Black Micro Corp. was awarded the $161.82 million Phase 1 on Nov. 30, 2021, according to Journal files, with work in that phase originally estimated to be completed in October 2025. The divert airfield was originally planned as three phases, but skyrocketing costs made that impractical.
Leonard K. Kaae Sr., senior vice president and general manager of Black Construction, told the Journal in February during an interview in Tinian that, “Tinian is very challenging for us logistically. He also said the project is very costly. However, he said, “I think it’s part of Black’s history to work in austere locations. It’s something we thrive on.”
The Asia Pacific Stability Initiative is a plan to strengthen the U.S. presence in the Asia-Pacific region, according to Journal files.
In other MilCon news, Modern International Inc. of Barrigada, was awarded a $17.5 million “firm-fixed-price task order … under a multiple award construction contract to provide additional capacity for the Building 309 generator at Marine Corps Base Camp Blaz.” The work provides for a new Tier 2, 2.5-megawatt diesel generator with associated components. Work is expected to be completed by April 2025. Two proposals were received for the task order, which was awarded by Naval Facilities and Systems Engineering Marianas, according to an April 26 release from the U.S. Department of Defense, CHamoru Standard Time.
The task order was awarded through a $400 million indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity MAC contract, originally awarded in January 2022. Nine other companies were also named to that MAC contract for work in Guam – which was for a base period and three option years, according to Journal files.
Visiting Guam:
Eleven instructors with the 421st Combat Training Squadron at McGuire Air Force Base in Burlington County in New Jersey, flew out to the Pacific Regional Training Center at Andersen Air Force Base, “to conduct an air advisor course” from March 27 to April 17, according to an April 24 Pacific Air Forces post of April 24.
Students were given lessons in two main categories: combat skills and cultural awareness. “Cultural awareness training taught students specific cultural understanding relevant to Indo-Pacific nations,” according to the post.
The course at Andersen was the first time it had been taught outside of the base at Burlington, according to the post, which was written by Senior Airman Kaitlyn Preston of the Public Affairs Office of the 36th Wing at Andersen.
Seven chiefs of staff from the National Guard Region VII visited Guam for the first-ever Chiefs of Staff Advisory Council meeting on the island.
The council members represent Guam, Hawaii, Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, and Utah, and visited Guam the week of April 17, according to an April 21 release from the Guam National Guard.
In addition to working groups and meetings, the colonels visited with Gov. Lourdes A. Leon Guerrero, and military officials from Joint Region Marianas. After work, they visited cultural and historical sites, and the Chamorro Village night market, according to the Guam Guard.
And also:
JCB International Co., Ltd., the international operations subsidiary of JCB Co., Ltd., Japan's only international payment brand, will reopen the JCB Plaza Lounge Guam on April 28, following its renovation. The lounge is in the Comete Building along Pale San Vitores Road, and can be accessed from the lobby floor of the Dusit Beach Resort Guam via UnderWater World or from the entrance of UnderWater World.
JCB assists JCB cardmembers in making reservations for JCB merchants and tourist attractions and offers a complimentary one-day luggage storage service at the lounge, according to an April 27 release. JCB will also offer members a variety of special offers in Guam.
The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration found that Guam Industrial Services Inc., which does business as the Guam Shipyard, “might have prevented the death of a rigger at the Port of Guam in November 2022 had they followed legally required safety standards for operating cranes,” according to an April 26 release from OSHA.
Inspectors with OSHA “learned the rigger was one of 12 workers employed … to demolish a gantry crane at the time of the incident. They determined the company was using a barge-mounted crane to lower one leg of a 100-foot-high gantry crane as two welders and the rigger waited on an elevated platform to remove it. Once removed, the part would be cut up and scrapped. As welders on the platform cut the crane leg’s base, its full weight caused the barge crane’s boom to bend, which snapped its cable and allowed the load to swing and fatally strike the rigger,” the release said.
Inspectors further learned that, on the morning of the incident, workers raised concerns that the load was too heavy for the crane and suggested cutting the load into pieces. Company management instructed employees to remove the leg in one piece, according to the release.
OSHA has proposed $291,312 in penalties, an amount set by federal statutes, and cited the company for two willful violations and one serious violation, the release said.
Bank of Hawaii Corp. released its first quarter results on April 24. They showed average deposits were up 0.4%, diluted earnings per common share were $1.14, net income was $46.8 million, and the board of directors declared a dividend of 70c per common share.
For more information, see ir.boh.com
Black Micro Corp. – an affiliate of Black Construction Corp. with headquarters in Guam – was awarded a $221.69 million “firm-fixed price contract” at Tinian International Airport for “construction of a cargo pad with taxiway extension, fuel tanks with receipt pipeline and hydrant system, airfield development Phase I roads, and a maintenance support facility, under the Asia Pacific Stability Initiative,” according to an April 24 release from Naval Facilities Engineering and Systems Command Pacific in Hawaii, which made the award.
The award was due to be made “on or before” April 17, according to Journal files, which necessitated a special meeting of the Commonwealth Ports Authority concerning land leases and the fuel line pipeline that will traverse them from the Port of Tinian.
According to Tutor Perini Corp. – parent company of Black Construction – the contract contains three unexercised options, which if exercised, will increase the contract value to $225.67 million.
Work is expected to begin immediately with “substantial completion” anticipated by October 2026, according to an April 24 release from Tutor Perini Corp.
The project is known as the Tinian Divert Airfield. Black Micro Corp. was awarded the $161.82 million Phase 1 on Nov. 30, 2021, according to Journal files, with work in that phase originally estimated to be completed in October 2025. The divert airfield was originally planned as three phases, but skyrocketing costs made that impractical.
Leonard K. Kaae Sr., senior vice president and general manager of Black Construction, told the Journal in February during an interview in Tinian that, “Tinian is very challenging for us logistically. He also said the project is very costly. However, he said, “I think it’s part of Black’s history to work in austere locations. It’s something we thrive on.”
The Asia Pacific Stability Initiative is a plan to strengthen the U.S. presence in the Asia-Pacific region, according to Journal files.
In other MilCon news, Modern International Inc. of Barrigada, was awarded a $17.5 million “firm-fixed-price task order … under a multiple award construction contract to provide additional capacity for the Building 309 generator at Marine Corps Base Camp Blaz.” The work provides for a new Tier 2, 2.5-megawatt diesel generator with associated components. Work is expected to be completed by April 2025. Two proposals were received for the task order, which was awarded by Naval Facilities and Systems Engineering Marianas, according to an April 26 release from the U.S. Department of Defense, CHamoru Standard Time.
The task order was awarded through a $400 million indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity MAC contract, originally awarded in January 2022. Nine other companies were also named to that MAC contract for work in Guam – which was for a base period and three option years, according to Journal files.
Visiting Guam:
Eleven instructors with the 421st Combat Training Squadron at McGuire Air Force Base in Burlington County in New Jersey, flew out to the Pacific Regional Training Center at Andersen Air Force Base, “to conduct an air advisor course” from March 27 to April 17, according to an April 24 Pacific Air Forces post of April 24.
Students were given lessons in two main categories: combat skills and cultural awareness. “Cultural awareness training taught students specific cultural understanding relevant to Indo-Pacific nations,” according to the post.
The course at Andersen was the first time it had been taught outside of the base at Burlington, according to the post, which was written by Senior Airman Kaitlyn Preston of the Public Affairs Office of the 36th Wing at Andersen.
Seven chiefs of staff from the National Guard Region VII visited Guam for the first-ever Chiefs of Staff Advisory Council meeting on the island.
The council members represent Guam, Hawaii, Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, and Utah, and visited Guam the week of April 17, according to an April 21 release from the Guam National Guard.
In addition to working groups and meetings, the colonels visited with Gov. Lourdes A. Leon Guerrero, and military officials from Joint Region Marianas. After work, they visited cultural and historical sites, and the Chamorro Village night market, according to the Guam Guard.
And also:
JCB International Co., Ltd., the international operations subsidiary of JCB Co., Ltd., Japan's only international payment brand, will reopen the JCB Plaza Lounge Guam on April 28, following its renovation. The lounge is in the Comete Building along Pale San Vitores Road, and can be accessed from the lobby floor of the Dusit Beach Resort Guam via UnderWater World or from the entrance of UnderWater World.
JCB assists JCB cardmembers in making reservations for JCB merchants and tourist attractions and offers a complimentary one-day luggage storage service at the lounge, according to an April 27 release. JCB will also offer members a variety of special offers in Guam.
The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration found that Guam Industrial Services Inc., which does business as the Guam Shipyard, “might have prevented the death of a rigger at the Port of Guam in November 2022 had they followed legally required safety standards for operating cranes,” according to an April 26 release from OSHA.
Inspectors with OSHA “learned the rigger was one of 12 workers employed … to demolish a gantry crane at the time of the incident. They determined the company was using a barge-mounted crane to lower one leg of a 100-foot-high gantry crane as two welders and the rigger waited on an elevated platform to remove it. Once removed, the part would be cut up and scrapped. As welders on the platform cut the crane leg’s base, its full weight caused the barge crane’s boom to bend, which snapped its cable and allowed the load to swing and fatally strike the rigger,” the release said.
Inspectors further learned that, on the morning of the incident, workers raised concerns that the load was too heavy for the crane and suggested cutting the load into pieces. Company management instructed employees to remove the leg in one piece, according to the release.
OSHA has proposed $291,312 in penalties, an amount set by federal statutes, and cited the company for two willful violations and one serious violation, the release said.
Bank of Hawaii Corp. released its first quarter results on April 24. They showed average deposits were up 0.4%, diluted earnings per common share were $1.14, net income was $46.8 million, and the board of directors declared a dividend of 70c per common share.
For more information, see ir.boh.com