Navy establishes command to oversee Portsmouth Naval Shipyard construction work

The Navy established a command Sept. 2 to oversee construction at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard as the service starts work to improve the shipyard's infrastructure.

The Navy recently issued a $1.7 billion contract to 381 Constructors to build a multimission dry dock at the Maine shipyard, and another $63 million contract for construction on the shipyard's Dry Dock 2 complex.

The work at Portsmouth is part of the Navy's 20-year, $21 billion Shipyard Infrastructure Optimization Program.

The commander of Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command Atlantic commissioned Capt. Frank Carroll as the officer in charge of construction earlier this month.

"Establishing an OICC provides robust on-site construction oversight and command-level accountability for resident engineering services, as well as coordination among crucial stakeholders," the service said in a press release. "OICC PNSY will now move swiftly into executing numerous large contracts, applying innovative and efficient processes to improve critical existing drydock complexes as a part of [the] Navy's Shipyard Infrastructure Optimization Program (SIOP)."