Boston, MA, May 9 2017 - US Coast Guard Cutter Seneca at its home port Image: CL-Medien/Shutterstock.com
By: FEDweek StaffNearly half of the Coast Guard’s on-shore infrastructure is “beyond its service life” and its backlogs of maintenance and recapitalization projects will cost at least $2.6 billion to address, GAO has said.
There is a deferred maintenance backlog of some 5,600 projects that would cost $900 million and a backlog of new and restructured projects of about $1.8 billion, GAO said, adding that there are hundreds of other projects in the pipeline whose costs have not yet been estimated.
GAO said the Coast Guard owns or leases more than 20,000 shore facilities–such as piers, docks, boat stations, air facilities, and housing units–at more than 2,700 locations, and since they are concentrated along coastlines, they are especially vulnerable to damage from severe weather, as happened in recent years due to hurricanes including Sandy, Harvey, Irma, Maria, and Matthew.
The report said DHS, the parent agency, agreed with its recommendations to adopt leading practices in project management including requiring the use of models for predicting the outcome of maintenance investments and choosing among competing investments.
