Evening star., 1956-12-31

The second Of three articles surveying
the Amerieon military boses progron
/ in Spoin.
snap and verve while others don't
much care.
Rather than criticize Ameri-
can operations here, this re-
porter, after an end-to-end tour
OF Spain and the bases, must
admit surprise that Spain S
donkey-economy could build the
bases at all-and surprise also
that American military planners
could have expected originally
that the bases would be built on
American-Standard timetables.
These bases are now roughly
six months behind schedule. A
large share of that slippage-
most Of it, Air Force spokesmen
say-can be blamed on the
weather. The legend of sunny
Spain was shattered last winter
by six months of rain that
brought the early ground-moving
stages Of construction almost to
a halt.
Other delay can be attributed
to lack of Spanish familiarity
with American methods and
American 'insistance. that most
things be done the Yankee way.
There was delay in acquisi-.
tion of the land. Spanish au-
thorities. under the agreement
with the United States, furnish
the land. The legal complexi-
ties Of condemnation and COM
pensation were considerable even
though Spanish authorities cut
red tape in a great effort to
deliver the land on time.
Water Is a BOttleneck
Water has been a bottleneck.
Spain turned out to be even
shorter on ground water than
American technicians predicted,
and well-drilling has been 2
failure. Water must be piped
long distances from rivers. and
operational date of some bases.
like Rota, will depend on when
water can be delivered.
American supervisors believe
all the obstacles now have been
overcome. If weather is average
the rest Of this winter. Ameri-
can spokesman say. construction
can procede to completion at a
Yankee-like clip.
The Spanish base construction
program is unique. Military
planners made it that way in
an effort to avoid disturbing the
Spanish economy and American
congressman.
The Spanish economy is the
most backward in non-Com-
Europe. The impact OF
several-hundred- million dollar
construction program could in
Hate prices and wages disaster
OuSly. And the effect on Congress
of another wasteful crash" con-
program. like the one
which gave American operations
n Morocco a bad name, could I
knock the props out from Penta- |
son prestige on Capitol Hill.
The Pentagon decided things
would be done neatly and eco
lomically in Spain. Speed has
been secondary. Maximum use
u existing Spanish facilities has /
been emphasized.
The Air Force is responsible 1
or the construction job. though I
he Nays Bureau OF Yards and
Docks is overseeing actual con-
as the Air Force has no
construction arm. A prime con-
.ractor was hired TO do the build
ng and architect-engineers were
selected to draw the plans. Both
we're chosen on competitive bids
md both will be paid a fixed fee.
Prime Contractor
The prime contractor is a Joint I
called Brown. Raymond 1
/ Walsh a combined effort of
Brown g. Root OF Houston. I
rex Raymond Concrete Pile
u New York and the Walsh Con-
itruction Co. OF Davenport. Iowa.
The architect-engineers are
'ooled group from Frederick r.
Harris, Inc; Medcalf a. Eddy, [.
nc. Pereira & Luckman. Inc, |
md Shaw, Metz a. Dolio. Inc.
Brown Raymond a. Walsh
lire Suocontractors for specific
'rolects. Most are Spanish firms.
Some are American IN in
tances where a qualified Span
sh firm cannot be found. and
ome are Joint Amer!can-Spanlsh
ombines. The pipeline. for
Instance. is being built BY a
roup formed oy Merritt. Chap
nan a. Scott Louis Wolfsons
irse New York construction |
lrml. Benson a. Montatn OF
)klahoma City and q leading |
panish construction company.
he Americans provide the spe-
.A.-.