Ammunition and Explosive (AE) storage facilities and surrounding roads and buildings must be sited and/or hardened to protect against blast, fragmentation, and thermal effects from accidental detonations. The approval process for siting and design of new AE facilities can be challenging and comprehensive. Our team of engineers have experience with siting and design of AE magazines and other types of facilities. We work with your team of architects and engineers to incorporate these requirements and guide you through the submittal and review process with the DDESB and the other applicable military branches.
Comprehensive Explosive Safety Expertise
For Explosive Safety (ES) protection, the magazine or storage building containing the AE material where the accidental explosion may occur, is considered a Potential Explosion Site (PES) and the surrounding inhabited buildings, operation buildings and other AE storage facilities that are exposed to blast effects are considered an Exposed Site (ES). When the PES contains large amounts of AE, facilities and roadways are generally sited from the PES using Explosive Safety Quantity-Distances (ESQDs) determined in accordance with design criteria developed by The Department of Defense (DoD) Explosive Safety Board (DDESB). For AE facilities with smaller amounts of explosives, blast-hardening to contain the explosion may be employed in accordance with UFC 3-340-02. The use and application of ES siting and blast protection criteria often requires coordination between multiple documents (depending on the branch of DoD) and a detail understanding of the siting guidelines and exceptions applicable to a given configuration. In addition, ES design and construction must pass a rigorous review and approval process by the DDESB. Contact us, we are ready to support you!
Resources
- Air Force: AFM 91-201
- Army: AR 385-10
- Navy: NAVSEA OP 5 Volume 1
- Defense Explosive Safety Regulation 6055.09, Edition 1, January 13, 2019 (DESR 6055.09)
- UFC 3-340-02
- UFC 4-420-01
Connect