Fort Bliss officials celebrated the opening Tuesday of new barracks buildings constructed in months — not years — using massive 3D-printing construction robots.
The new buildings, made of a special blend of concrete, can house up to 560 soldiers in open bays on temporary assignment to the west Texas base, according to the 1st Armored Division, Fort Bliss’s largest unit.
The first two of 10 buildings opened Tuesday with the remaining expected to come online in September, according to Fort Bliss.
Built by ICON, an Austin, Texas-based company that specializes in 3D-printed construction, the barracks cost about $62.8 million, Army officials said in March as construction began.
The printing phase of all 10 buildings took 58 days with an estimated contract-to-delivery time of just nine months, the base said. The Army achieved a 9.3% cost savings compared to traditional military construction benchmarks set by the Army Corps of Engineers, completing the project at four times the speed of traditional construction methods.
“[T]his project is about much more than statistics, 3D printing or cost savings,” said Maj. Gen. Curtis Taylor, the commander of Fort Bliss. “It is about combat readiness, and most importantly, it is about taking care of our people. … This facility sends a clear and undeniable message to every soldier who walks through its doors: We value you. We value your mission. And we value your sacrifice.”
Troops deployed to the southwest border mission, known as Joint Task Force-Southern Border, will soon move into the new buildings, the base said.
ICON built similar barracks for a Texas National Guard training site in 2021 and is constructing more at Fort Polk in Louisiana.