Fort Carson getting $11M tower for helicopter unit

A Greeley construction company has been awarded a $10.9 million contract to build an aviation control tower for a new helicopter brigade at Fort Carson.

The Defense Department announced Friday that Hensel Phelps Construction will build the tower. It’s expected to be completed by December 2013.

The new 13th Combat Aviation Brigade will have up to 2,700 soldiers and 113 helicopters. It will supplement the 4th Infantry Division based at the post outside Colorado Springs.

The tower was the second multimillion-dollar project announced for the helicopter brigade in four days. On Tuesday, the Pentagon said Hensel-Phelp’s Austin, Texas, office had been awarded a $44.8 million contract to build a hangar.

Construction to accommodate the brigade is expect to take four years and cost a total of about $730 million.