BUILDING A BUNKER

Undaunted by weather and COVID-19 restrictions, soldiers from the Army Reserve's 19th Engineer Battalion are nearing the end of their third phase on the construction of a steel cutting bunker at Fort Knox KY. When completed sometime in mid-2021, the bunker will provide only the second such capability in the entire Army (the first being at Fort Leonard Wood MO). The project, which began in 2019, is about 60 percent complete to date. With 440-yds of concrete floor, walls, and roof up to 40-in thick, the facility will be strong enough to withstand repeated explosive blasts for years to come. The steel cutting bunker will eventually be lined in its flooring, walls, and roof with enough rebar that if it was stretched end-to-end, it would span about 62-mi.