Aurora, Colorado – July 27, 2009 – Merrick & Company www.merrick.com, known in the life sciences research and development field for biocontainment laboratory design and commissioning, has begun project commissioning of the $500 million U.S. Army Medical Research Institute for Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID) replacement project to be located at Fort Detrick, Frederick, Maryland. The work is being completed under a contract with Manhattan/Torcon, the construction manager on the project.
Commissioning or Cx as the activities are known in the industry, is an evaluative process for ensuring new building systems are designed, installed, tested, operated, and maintained in accordance with the design intent for the facility. The process is intended to provide on-time start-up, lower first costs, reduced long-term operating costs, superior system reliability, and ease of maintenance during operations. Merrick is also providing commissioning services for a project at Washington State University and has completed other Cx projects at the University of Pittsburgh and the University of Missouri.
USAMRIID is the lead medical research laboratory for the U.S. Biological Defense Research program. Its mission is to conduct basic and applied research on biological threats resulting in medical solutions to protect military service members. It is the only laboratory in the U.S. Department of Defense’s system that is equipped to safely study highly hazardous infectious agents requiring maximum containment at biosafety level (BSL) 4.
Merrick focuses on BSL-3 and BSL-4 biocontainment laboratories. The firm is part of the planning and design team for the National Bio & Agro Defense Facility (NBAF), a $550 million project that will replace the existing research facility currently located at Plum Island, New York. In addition, the firm designed a $72 million BSL-3Ag large animal facility, which is one of the initial elements of the $460 million modernization of the largest Federal animal disease center, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s research and diagnostic facilities, located in Ames, Iowa. More information about Merrick & Company’s Life Sciences Program is located at Merrick Life Sciences and more information about the company is located at Merrick Newsroom.