Palau National Capitol Relocation, Phase II Republic of Palau

In May 2003, Black Micro Corporation (BMC) completed construction of the $23.3 million Palau National Capital Relocation Project – Phase II on behalf of the Republic of Palau in Meleokeok State on the island of Babeldaob. The project included the construction of four major concrete buildings of classical Greco-Roman architecture to house the President’s Office, Executive, Legislative, and Judicial branches of the Palau National Government. The four buildings are 2- and 3-stories tall with 13 to 26 feet ceiling heights and a total floor area of 131,615 SF. The President’s Building and Legislature Building have dome roofs. The project also includes construction of buried 500,000 gallon and 45,000 gallon concrete water tanks, two level buried pump building, and deep valve vaults.

All the buildings have one or more elevators, air conditioning and ventilation systems, fire sprinklers, smoke detection and fire alarm systems, and provisions for CATV, telephone, security and data systems.

The Judicial and Legislative Buildings include sound systems for the court rooms, Senate and House chambers, and public galleries and specialized construction for detention cells and commercial grade kitchen facilities. There also is an elevated concrete walkway bridge between the Executive and President’s buildings.

BMC is self-performing all work on the project including construction of the concrete structures, standing seam metal roofing, interior HVAC, MEP, and finishes. The remote location of the new Capital site on the island of Babeldaob required BMC to construct a self-contained 200 man labor camp, site office and warehouse facilities, and mobilize a concrete batch plant for the project. All equipment, materials, fuel, and supplies required by the project were barged between Koror and the Melekeok State dock and then trucked to the project site.

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