How The Fort Bliss Army Replacement Hospital Went Awry

A rendering of the replacement hospital at Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas. Image: Courtesy of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

How does an army hospital for veterans started with good intentions and targeted for completion in November 2016 end up $400 million over budget and almost three years late? The answer isn’t simple and the five-building Fort Bliss Hospital Replacement project in El Paso, Texas is complex. So the Defense Department's inspector general issued a timeline of the project and key entries on the timeline appear below. Some of the events mentioned in the timeline, such as the bankruptcy of the foundation pier drilling subcontractor and the replacement of the onsite project team leaders, appear in the related story about the report and the project. But the edited timeline also contains additional details about what occurred that may help explain what happens when mega-projects spin out of control. Note that the Army uses a color system—green, amber and red—to signal that an issue exists that could affect the operation or mission being carried out.

Early Design: 2009-2011

2009 Initial plans made for 1.1 million-sq-ft medical center

An image of the cover of the Fort Bliss Replacement Hospital construction documents and specifications prepared by HDR.

March 2011 Schematic design and 20% design completion

April 2011 Final project planning package issued

November 2011 At 35% design completion, project is within cost and schedule requirements

2012

February-April Army reviews design submittal at 65% completion

May-June Army reviews 100% design submittal

August The medical campus design is complete

2013

January Corps awards construction contract to Clark-McCarthy joint venture

May Three losing proposer/bidders protest the award, but the Government Accountability Office denies all three protests. Notice to proceed is issued with contractual completion set for November 2016

August Construction begins

Construction Phase

May Three losing proposer/bidders protest the award, but the Government Accountability Office denies all three protests. Notice to proceed is issued with contractural completion set for November 2016

2014

February The foundation pier drilling subcontractor defaults and seeks bankruptcy protection

AMBER SIGNAL

November An Army office changes the schedule "stop light" from green to amber

2015

January Reports from army staff state that delays to pier construction and structural steel erection will delay beneficial occupancy by 90 days

February An accident kills a worker, work stops for a month for investigation and the beneficial occupancy goal is changed from April to October 2017

March Review is made of whistleblower allegations of safety, quality control and quality assurance issues

June-July Army begins workshop on the project to create good working relationships and jointly create a problem-solving procedure to eliminate delays and costs

AMBER SIGNAL

September The Army Health Facility Planning Office at Fort Bliss changes its signal on the project to amber

November Clark-McCarthy states that the many issues encountered were due to complications in interpretation of the design that the government was responsible for. A "get-well" plan is proposed.

2016

January Leaders of the different stakeholders decide to replace the project leaders for the Army, designer-of-record and contractor. New people take their place in March

February Project is determined to be significantly behind schedule

RED SIGNAL

March The Health Facility Planning Office at Fort Bliss changes its signal on the project to red and the beneficial occupancy goal is changed to September 2018. The Corps defers all negotiations of discretionary change and the Fort Bliss Health Facility Planning Office cancels active changes and curtails all discretionary change procedures going forward.

June Corps of Engineers identifies a delay of 1 to 2 years and the need for another $200 million in funding

August Clark-McCarthy submits a request for a compensable time-impact delay of 21 months due to issues including seismic bracing of mechanical and plumbing piping, splice zone requirements of concrete reinforcing, structural steel erection, interior and exterior framing, structural concrete topping slabs and interdisciplinary design coordination.

2017

May The Army notifies Congress of an authorized cost increase of $245 million for a total cost of $1.2 billion

November Army and Clark-McCarthy reach agreement on request for equitable adjustment

Deputy Editor Richard Korman helps run ENR's business and legal news and investigations, selects ENR's commentary and oversees editorial content on ENR.com. In 2023 the American Society of Business Publication Editors awarded Richard the Stephen Barr Award, the highest honor for a single feature story or investigation, for his story on the aftermath of a terrible auto crash in Kentucky in 2019, and in 2015 the American Business Media awarded him the Timothy White Award for investigations of surety fraud and workplace bullying. A member of Investigative Reporters and Editors, Richard has been a fellow on drone safety with the McGraw Center for Business Journalism at the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY. Richard's freelance writing has appeared in the Seattle Times, the New York Times, Business Week and the websites of The Atlantic and Salon.com. He admires construction projects that finish on time and budget, compensate all team members fairly and record zero fatalities or serious injuries.

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