Coast Guard Base San Juan and Coast Guard Sector San Juan held a groundbreaking ceremony, Thursday, for the rebuilding of shore infrastructure impacted by Hurricane Maria.
The work includes resiliency improvements to the water storage supply and emergency power for the entire base. In addition, new construction includes a 40,000 square-foot multi-mission building, a 5,000 square-foot base facilities building, front gate entrance, shoreline armored revetment, and a boat ramp.
“This groundbreaking ceremony represents the Coast Guard’s steadfast resolve to serve U.S. interests throughout the Eastern Caribbean, and to support our Coast Guard men and women who live and work here,” said Rear Adm. Carola List, Director of Operational Logistics. “For more than a century, the Coast Guard has performed lifesaving and homeland security missions in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Once completed, this new critical infrastructure will improve our resilience and capabilities to maintain mission support services enabling operations throughout the region well into the future.”
The Coast Guard awarded the $132,596,716 contract to Tutor Perini Corporation for the hurricane rebuild project in September 2022. So far, the service has invested approximately $365 million dollars in Puerto Rico to reconstitute the shore infrastructure at Coast Guard installations. Earlier, the Coast Guard awarded an $180 million project for Coast Guard Air Station Borinquen in Aguadilla and a $15 million project for the Marine Inspections Office in Ponce, to rebuild facilities damaged by Hurricane Maria in September of 2017 and an earthquake in 2019. Construction in San Juan is estimated to be completed by 2028.
Base and Sector San Juan are responsible for conducting Coast Guard missions in the Eastern Caribbean within their 1.3 million square nautical mile area of responsibility. In the previous year, Coast Guard operations were able to save and assist 1,600 mariners, interdict 1,500 migrants, and detain 60 smugglers. The shore infrastructure investment in San Juan is vital towards the success of continued Coast Guard operations in Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and throughout the Eastern Caribbean.
