ForConstructionPros.com

World War I became the testing arena for all sorts of new technology. Although Zeppelins, flamethrowers and carrier pigeons did not survive, the use of planes did. In fact at the height of the war, the U.S. Secretary of War advocated an expanded role for aviation, and the establishment of "flying fields" where young men could "learn the skills of warfare" before traveling across the sea to fight "The War to End All Wars." One such airfield was to be located in Belleville, Illinois - about 20 miles east of St. Louis.

The government gave the contractor 60 days to erect approximately 60 buildings, lay a mile-long railroad spur to connect the field with the main line of the Southern Railroad and level off an airfield. Construction was underway when it was announced that the field would be named after Corporal Frank Scott, the first enlisted person to be killed in an aviation crash.

Today, another ambitious construction project is taking place on 235 acres on and adjacent to the Scott Air Force Base. In three phases, 609 homes for U.S. Air Force personnel and their families are being constructed by private contractors. The two-family and single-family dwellings will meet modern housing standards and be a far cry from as one newspaper described typical military housing: "the bleak, utilitarian units that toe the streets like soldiers at attention."

The government put the bid out for privatization of the housing. The winning general contractor, Hunt Construction Group, Scottsdale, Ariz., has successfully completed similar projects attached to other military bases, so they jumped right into the project. Randle Construction, Inc, Freeburg, Ill. is responsible for completing all of the concrete footings and foundations.

"After we won the bid, we started to look closely at cost-saving ways and how we could do things more productively," states Ron Randle, owner of Randle Construction.  "We had a 20-month schedule given to us, so we needed to figure out how to get it all done in that timeframe."