Innovative construction methods supporting disaster relief

How I led a team of 45 Marines to pioneer the implementation of an innovative polymer substance to construct expeditionary landing pads 50% faster

Team: US Marine Corps engineers

GOAL

Develop a proof of concept using an experimental soil stabilizing substance

How Might We: construct landing pads more rapidly and with minimal resources to support faster responses to humanitarian emergencies?

MURPHY'S LAW

Soil & substance not as advertised

When attempting to validate soil qualities passed to me from a previous site survey, I discovered wild inaccuracies that required 4x my initial water projections to obtain optimal soil for construction.

We fell behind over 1 week weh I discovered the experimental soil stabilization substance qualities were incompatible with our timeline and proposed construction methods.

DISASTER RECOVERY

Improvising and innovating

To recover from our setbacks, I held a "meeting of the minds" with my advisors and subject matter experts to brainstorm ways our traditional construction practices might be adapted to accommodate the experimental substance and abysmal soil conditions.

I decided to quickly prototype the most promising idea, and convinced the project sponsors of the necessity, feasibility, and viability of our new, innovative method.

RESULT

Functional tests and verification

Aircraft pilots and quality assurance testers were initially skeptical of our new construction method, but the completed landing pads passed load bearing tests from hand-held instruments with flying colors.

To further convince the skeptics, I iterated by proposing a subsequent round of load bearing tests using large ground transportation vehicles, which were a less risky, less expensive alternative to testing military aircraft--we passed.

Finally, the project sponsors agreed to test the full functionality of the landing pads using helicopters.

The project sponsors were surprised and impressed with how well the pads worked and how quickly we had constructed them: 50% faster than traditional methods.

FUTURE SUCCESS

Documentation & maintenance procedures

After the successful demonstration, I drafted instructions for replicating our successful use of the innovative substance and construction method, as well as follow-on maintenance procedures .

Recommendations included procedures, planning factors, technical soil:water:substance ratios, and resources such as personnel, equipment, and materials.

Now, when disaster strikes, the US Marines can arrive to provide much-needed humanitarian assistance twice as fast as before.

LESSONS LEARNED

Key takeaways

One of the key decision points was to: 1) acknowledge that the substance didn't work as expected and continue with the proof of concept, even though it wouldn't result in faster construction, or 2) venture into uncharted (horizontal construction) waters to try something new?

Since the project's purpose was to decrease construction time, and because I asked the question early in the project, I was able to lead the team to successfully pioneer a new construction method with an experimental soil stabilizer, recover from our setback, and complete the project on-time and within budget.

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