NAVFAC Officer in Charge of Construction China Lake Breaks Ground on Radiographic Building as part of Earthquake Recovery Program

CHINA LAKE – Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command (NAVFAC) Officer in Charge of Construction (OICC) China Lake hosted its eighth groundbreaking on Oct. 26, on the $53 million Radiographic Building, within the China Lake Propulsion Laboratory Complex aboard Naval Air Weapons Station (NAWS) China Lake, as part of the $2.7 billion Earthquake Recovery Program.

This new, state of the art facility, located at the base of B-Mountain will support a film processing center, x-ray assessment, heavy machinery, a loading dock and drive through main bay with both gantry and bridge cranes. The new facility will replace an existing structure that was damaged beyond repair during the July 2019 earthquakes.
OICC China Lake Construction Manager Lt. Rixon Fletcher served as the master of ceremonies and provided welcoming remarks before introducing the speakers for the ceremony Harper Construction President Jeff Harper, Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division (NAWCWD) Director, Ranges/Targets Operations, Instrumentation and Labs Thomas Dowd and OICC China Lake’s Executive Officer Cmdr. Tim Kaber.
“Since the establishment of OICC China Lake in October 2020, we are excited to be hosting the groundbreaking ceremony on our twelfth MILCON as part of the earthquake recovery effort to bring NAWS China Lake and its tenants back to full mission capable status,” said OICC China Lake Executive Officer Cmdr. Tim Kaber. “We are ecstatic to be working with Harper Construction on this essential facility that is a part of the Research, Development, Testing and Evaluation mission of NAWCWD.’

“Just as Winston Churchill said, we shape our buildings and thereafter, they shape us,” said Thomas Dowd. “We are working in partnership to shape these facilities to fit the Navy’s needs. The expertise and intentionality of the design team in choosing this new location and design of this facility will allow us to accomplish the complete mission without having to be constrained by other efforts and once built, they will shape the way we do this work for decades to come.”

“Harper Construction is excited to be a part of this amazing construction effort and committed, that we (Harper Construction) will strive for excellence as we safely deliver a great facility to the Navy and NAWCWD,’ said Jeff Harper.

NAWS China Lake is located in the Western Mojave Desert region of California, approximately 150 miles north of Los Angeles. China Lake’s mission is to support the Navy's RDT&E missions to provide cutting-edge weapons systems to the warfighter. The installation is the Navy's largest single landholding. In total, its two ranges and main site cover more than 1.1 million acres, an area larger than the state of Rhode Island.

OICC China Lake was established in August 2020 to provide engineering, acquisition, and execution oversight for military construction and repair projects caused by the devastating damage from the 6.4 and 7.1 magnitude earthquakes that occurred on July 4 and 5, 2019.