At a press conference earlier today Congressmen Jim Moran (8th – D) and Gerry Connolly (11th – D) expressed gratitude for the much-needed federal funds that were released in the past week for construction projects related to Base Realignment and Closing (BRAC). Both Moran and Connolly pointed out how much more needs to be done to accommodate the thousands of extra cars that will be on area roads as a result of BRAC. Connolly and representatives from several interested parties, including the Mount Vernon-Lee Chamber of Commerce, thanked Moran for his efforts to secure the funding. Moran has …

Last night Route 1 was closed briefly while construction crews placed the first three of nine steel girders that will help complete the Gunston Road Bridge on Fort Belvoir. The girders, which are 110 feet in length, were delivered from a manufacturer in North Carolina. They will be installed again tonight and tomorrow, in increments of three, weather permitting. As it was last evening, traffic will need to be held up for approximately 20 minutes in each direction, while the girder is hoisted from a truck and then steered into place. Nine more 67-foot girders will be placed next week, but …

As the deadline grows ever closer (it's September 15, 2011), Patch will be checking in periodically on the massive undertaking that is BRAC at Fort Belvoir. With approximately 20,000 employees coming to Belvoir and approximately 14,500 leaving, the overhaul in infrastructure presents the type of the logistical challenge the Department of Defense has rarely seen on these shores. At Fort Belvoir alone (or BRAC-132 or Belvoir South as it is sometimes referred) a total of nearly 6.3 million square feet of building space will be constructed, 7 million square feet of parking space will be created, …