This initiative, in the words of Public Works Division Chief Amalia Thomas, is the last piece to a 10-plus-year initiative to send Tobyhanna’s handling of drinking water, stormwater, and wastewater to new heights.

Since the late 2000s, Tobyhanna Army Depot has taken a keen interest in the water infrastructure serving thousands of employees and 26 residences surrounding the installation.

With 2008 serving as the baseline for comparison, Tobyhanna Army Depot has been a net zero water facility since 2012. This means the depot strives to account for every single drop of water used from the water basin and put back in. Investments into improving Tobyhanna’s wells began in 2014 and culminated with them being installed in 2021. Other areas of infrastructure investment and innovation included new water storage tanks, a new treatment center, flowmeters to track water usage, and the shutting off of an older well to optimize operations and reduce the amount of PFAS in the drinking water.

Thomas said after this investment into nearly every aspect of Tobyhanna’s water, developing a strong distribution network was the next logical step.

“This is the grand master plan for Tobyhanna to set a new standard. A lot of the necessary work has already been done. The final piece is the distribution network – the pipes,” said Thomas.

The current initiative is a proposed three-phase project currently in its first phase with a three-year timeline for each phase. The goal of the three phases is to cover the depot’s industrial area with the entire installation to follow.

Work on the first phase is a collaboration between Tobyhanna Army Depot and general contractor Sealaska with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers serving as responsible agent.

Estimating $40M per phase, the funding for the first phase was provided by United States Army Materiel Command’s Organic Industrial Base Modernization Office.

Organic Industrial Base Modernization Office Director Stephanie Hoaglin said the ability to fund this project is a testament to meticulous planning and support from across the Army in supporting the shared mission of providing readiness.

“This project is another example of planning done right. Now that we are a few years into the Organic Industrial Base Modernization Implementation Plan, we are starting to see the fruits of our labor. Projects like these, which are ongoing across the entire AMC Enterprise, are a testament of the support we have from Army Senior Leaders and Congress to make the right investments to support the current and future needs to of the Army.”

The next two phases of the initiative will seek funding from the Army’s Facility Investment Plan, with depot officials hoping for a similar result to the first phase.

Anyone familiar with Tobyhanna and its climate will understand all too well what pushed upgrading the pipes to an official project. Aided by its elevation, Tobyhanna’s winters are often accompanied by temperatures below freezing and winter storms bringing multiple inches of snow. And in the late 2010s, the depot had a particularly harsh winter during which the pipes dating to the 1940s suffered several water main breaks. This meant the depot was at max capacity for pumping drinking water wells and couldn’t fully supply the amount of water it was losing.

“That winter was the catalyst that moved this into an actual project,” said Thomas. “The previous Master Planner, Brian Decker, started this initiative in replacing underground lines. The multitude of breaks and the way they were breaking provided justification to move this project forward.”

The benefits of replacing the underground water lines are many and include cost savings, increased quality of drinking water, increased reliability, and increased readiness.

Thomas said this project is key to aligning with points of emphasis across the Army including efficiency, consistency, and fiscal responsibility.

“This will significantly improve drinking water, improve financial status, and in a time when there is an emphasis on fiscal responsibility, having a reliable distribution network is key to consistent savings,” said Thomas.

The way it will increase quality of drinking water is fairly simple – as pipes age, sediment can build up. Despite the rigorous filtration processes employed by the depot, the water can be degraded in some respect.

This project and other investments into Tobyhanna’s utilities save money in a plethora of ways. Each time a water main breaks, it costs approximately $40k to repair in addition to acoustic leak detection surveys, conditional surveys, and expensive chemicals. This initiative ensures pipes will be properly supported and insulated through better bedding and thus more resistant to thawing and freezing which cause pipes to flex and break.

Civil Engineer Kyle Streich said in addition to proper bedding, gaining a comprehensive understanding of where infrastructure is located underground will help to combat potential unexpected issues or expenses.

“A big benefit of this project is knowing precisely where everything is located underground. We’re constantly planning projects at the depot and being able to verify where everything is located will help to alleviate issues and unforeseen modifications that result in spending money we didn’t plan to spend,” said Streich.

Both Thomas and Streich agreed that this project comes with secondary benefits including allowing Tobyhanna’s Roads and Grounds Branch to respond to other issues more efficiently and newly paved roadways as a result of the pipes being installed.

Perhaps the most important impact this project has is in increasing Tobyhanna’s already lofty readiness capability. The reliability of the new distribution system will ensure a consistent, controlled environment in which the depot workforce can provide the critical services our warfighters need in the most efficient manner possible.

Tobyhanna Army Depot, bolstered by its partners and dynamic workforce, remains as committed as ever to providing unparalleled readiness contributions to our nation’s warfighters.

Projects like the water distribution network replacement are directly aligned with Tobyhanna’s long-range strategic plan, TOBY2035. The effort has four strategic focus areas: Investing in Our People, C5ISR Readiness, Shape the Future and Strategic Communications and aims to posture the organization for future success.

TYAD is a recognized leader in providing world-class logistics support for command, control, communications, computers, cyber, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (C5ISR) systems across the Department of Defense. Tobyhanna’s Corporate Philosophy, dedicated work force and electronics expertise ensure the depot is the joint C5ISR provider of choice for all branches of the Armed Forces and industry partners.

Tobyhanna’s unparalleled capabilities include full-spectrum logistics support for sustainment, overhaul and repair, fabrication and manufacturing, engineering design and development, systems integration, cyber support, technology insertion, modification, foreign military sales and global field support to our joint warfighters.

About 3,100 personnel are employed by Tobyhanna. While the organization’s headquarters is located in the Pocono Mountains of northeastern Pennsylvania, Tobyhanna’s worldwide workforce includes employees in 43 fixed locations across the globe.

Tobyhanna Army Depot is part of the U.S. Army Communications-Electronics Command. Headquartered at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, the command’s mission is to deliver integrated C5ISR weapon systems, business systems, and medical sustainment to enable full spectrum combat operations at the point of need.