By Det.1 /444th MPAD SPC Matthew Lichtenstein, Claymont, hammers stakes in order to  set the grade of the road. 160th engineers restore air base road Story and photos by Spc. James Vadakin The Delaware Army National Guard’s 160th Engineering Detachment is helping out Dover Air Force Base by laying the foundation for the reconstruction of Perimeter Road. This project began in May and is scheduled to last two years, according to Sgt. 1st Class Roscoe Snead, noncommissioned officer in charge at the site. The unit will remove the existing road and lay a new foundation, over which a civilian contractor (with expensive equipment) will eventually lay new pavement. The 160th’s work will be carried out on drill weekends and will serve as practical training for the unit. Snead, a corrections officer in civilian life, said the old road was pothole-ridden and badly The mighty leveler does its job to smooth the road. in need of repair. The 160th was well equipped to carry out its task in June with ten construction vehicles, including a bulldozer, a front-end loader, a grater and a dump truck. Late Spring weather smiled on the June drill weekend, and various colored hard-hats bobbed about the construction site as their owners executed different tasks. There were red hard-hats to designate workers, blue to signify noncommissioned officer supervisors and white helmets for the officers. Spc. Matthew Lichtenstein, Spc. Lance Madden, Fenton, and Spc. Julio Seneus, Seaford, set the grade of the road. Snead said the work is divided into several phases. First the ground has to be surveyed. Next a heavy vehicle called a grater rips up the old existing road. The broken asphalt is carried away by front-end loaders, and then fill-material is put in its place. Finally the roadbed is compacted into a stable base for asphalt. The Air Force provides the soldiers with food, fuel for equipment, and whatever other necessities are required. Staff Sgt. Vaughn Shuler, a training noncommissioned officer with the 160th, said he felt the project was a great example of how well the services can work together. The leveler continuing to pull its load. "Our work saves them the cost of construction, and gives us the training we need. We’re killing two birds with one stone," he said. The 160th will be going to the desert of Southern California for annual training in August, where they will be using the same construction techniques that they have perfecting at the Air Base over drill weekends. A front end loader moves the old road dirt to dump trucks where it can be hauled away.

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