McCarthy Mortensen NBAF A Joint Venture has kicked off the final phase of construction for a national bio and agro-defense facility in Manhattan, Kansas, under an $835 million contract with the Department of Homeland Security.
The McCarthy and Mortensen team is building the 87,000-square-foot central utility plant that will contain boilers, chillers, emergency diesel generators and other laboratory elements, McCarthy said Friday.
Construction of the NBAF is set to complete in 2020 and full operation is scheduled to begin in 2022.
“The NBAF will be a key component in our joint effort with [the Agriculture Department] to advance research, which is critical to the security of our nation’s food supply and agricultural economy,†said Undersecretary Reginald Brothers of the DHS Science and Technology Directorate.
The whole facility will house biosafety levels 2, 3 and 4 shared research space; research, diagnostic testing and validation, countermeasure development; and diagnostic training for livestock diseases.
DHS also intends for the lab to develop countermeasures against threats from foreign animal disease and zoonotic disease pathogens.
