A National Security Agency and the Army Corps of Engineers began construction last week on a massive $1.2 billion federal data that will strengthen the nation’s cyber security.
Located 25 miles south of Salt Lake City on the grounds of Camp Williams, Utah, the new NSA facility that will gather intelligence about cyber security threats to federal government networks. The center will consist of 100,000 square feet of raised floor data center space and more than 900,000 square feet of technical support and administrative space, according to a USACE release. Support facilities include an electrical substation, a vehicle inspection facility and visitor control center, fuel storage, water storage and a chiller plant.
Construction and development of the facility will bring 5,000 to 10,000 new jobs to Utah and, once completed, will support 100 to 200 permanent, high paid positions said Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah at the event.
“This project is going to give an opportunity for an awful lot of Utahns” who have seen construction jobs in Utah drop from 100,000 in 2008 to about 66,000 today, said Rob Moore, president and COO of Big-D and chairman of the Associated General Contractors in Utah. “My subcontractors, suppliers and vendors are very appreciative of the work that will be available on this project.”
The NSA center is being built as part of the White House’s Comprehensive National Security Initiative (CNSI), which is designed to improve cyber security efforts to protect federal computer networks. While a large amount of cyber defense work is conducted at NSA headquarters in Fort Meade, Maryland, the new facility will provide much needed additional computing and data storage space to the NSA.
Grading work is currently underway, which is scheduled to include 100,000 square feet for the data center and 900,000 square feet for technical support and administrative space.
“It is so unique and so intensive,” Hatch said. “This will establish our state as one of the leading states for technology.”
