At a price tag of $333 million, the winning bid to build a new hospital at Fort Benning is the largest project in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Savannah District.
Therefore, the military needed a company that easily could construct a state-of-the-art medical facility for a post in the middle of a major expansion mode and positioned for decades of growth.
In Turner Construction Co., the U.S. Army landed a firm that might be described as somewhat of a contracting rock star.
“They bring the expertise,” said Alan Bugg, the Army Corps’ resident engineer for the local project awarded to Turner Construction Co. in Huntsville, Ala., one of several dozen global field offices for the New York-based company of the same name. The firm churned out $10.7 billion in construction volume in 2008.
“They have an outstanding reputation nationwide, not only for construction in general, but health care in particular,” Bugg said.
Experienced in medical sector
No doubt, Turner Construction is loaded with experience in the medical sector. Over the past decade, it has handled more than 600 health care-related projects, including several hospitals, cancer centers and research buildings.
But the company founded in 1902 also has notched a few entertainment and sports contracts on its work belt that the average person may be familiar with — Yankee Stadium, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Florida Aquarium, Qwest Stadium, Kansas Speedway, Madison Square Garden, Arthur Ashe Stadium and the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, and NASCAR Hall of Fame.
It also knows how to build skyscrapers, with the 46-story Hearst Tower in New York City on its resume. But that’s peanuts compared to an office structure Turner completed in 2004 — Taipei 101 in Taiwan, the tallest building in the world with 101 above-ground floors and five underground.
By the end of this year, however, that structure will be eclipsed by another Turner project. Burj Dubai, a 160-story giant in United Arab Emirates, has been in the works a half-dozen years and should open in December.
“So we’ll have (numbers) one and two,” said Chris McFadden, vice president of communications with Turner’s corporate headquarters.
Though a general contractor, Turner often acts as manager of a project, lining up subcontractors to handle most of the earth-moving and vertical construction.
Reputation, relationships
But simply landing such a litany of projects begs the question: How do they do it?
“I think it certainly is reputation,” McFadden said. “But also a great part of it is building relationships with the clients and understanding what their needs are, and working with them … Once we understand their needs, we can deliver our services for that particular project.”
At Fort Benning, Turner Construction will be replacing the existing 393,000-square-foot Martin Army Community Hospital with a 745,000-square-foot facility.
It is being built on 65 acres of a 156-acre patch of ground off Marne Road, just west of the existing Martin Army Community Hospital and facing downhill toward Upatoi Creek.
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