Kontek Delivers Final Safe House to Jefferson Parish
Innovative approach and partnership with parish gives citizens unprecedented protection
New Madrid, Mo., September 7, 2006 Kontek Industries announced today that it has delivered the final safe house of a ten-unit order from Jefferson Parish, La. Eight of these safe houses are designed to hold essential pumping station personnel and two to house water treatment facility personnel during category five winds and high waters. The innovative project and partnership with Jefferson Parish officials marks a critical improvement in safety for parish residents.
“In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, we were given the opportunity to solve a very serious problem. We were charged with keeping these personnel safe and allowing them to operate these critical facilities during a potential Katrina-type event or worse,” said Charlie Merrill, chairman of Kontek. “We are proud to be a part of this project in Jefferson Parish, and we're excited to be delivering a first-of-its-kind approach that provides absolute protection to those who are charged with operating the pumps and water treatment facilities during a hurricane.”
“Jefferson Parish has come a long way since the devastating events of last year,” said Parish President Aaron Broussard. “We can honestly say that our residents can feel safer now than ever before. We believe that this improvement in safety is one of the most important we have accomplished in the past year.”
The concept of building hurricane-proof, concrete structures is unique and Jefferson Parish is the first to deploy the structures. The safe houses are secured on a platform approximately thirty foot-high made of reinforced concrete and supported by large concrete pillars. The pillars are sunk as much as 100 feet in the ground.
Kontek's core focus is on providing unique solutions that ensure survival against a broad range of threats—both manmade and natural. It has developed and constructed products for a wide variety of defense, homeland security and force protection-related challenges. The company has been awarded a Louisiana Multiple Award Schedule (LAMAS) contract due to its unique capabilities. In addition to the safe houses in Jefferson Parish, Kontek received a contract to provide modular buildings at a Louisiana State University (LSU) Health facility, with other projects in the works.
Among the reasons Kontek was chosen for this project was the extensive research in ballistics and blast mitigation that the company has preformed in conjunction with Air Force Research Labs and the University of Missouri System. Blast mitigation characteristics directly relate to protection against high winds and flying debris.
About Kontek Industries
Kontek Industries, headquartered in New Madrid, Mo., is an engineering and design construction company specializing in homeland security and force protection solutions that help solve the most critical homeland security and defense-related challenges in the private and public sectors. The company manufactures the world's most technologically advanced anti-crash vehicle barriers, blast resistant barriers, L-8 and NIJ-4, .50 caliber armor-proof, blast-tested guardhouses, mobile mortar-proof troop housing, erectable mortar shield canopies, and modular buildings, which are earthquake, tornado, hurricane, and fire-proof, in its 150,000 sq. ft. facility. Kontek has provided modular blast barriers to the U.S. Air Force Force Protection Command and Control Program Office. It has also provided anti-crash vehicle barriers and other perimeter security and force protection products to 12 nuclear facilities throughout the United States and to two national security facilities: Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and Sandia National Laboratories. To learn more about Kontek Industries and its products, please go to: www.kontekindustries.com.
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