Los Angeles Air Force Base Main Entry Gate Relocation

Galloway provided civil, structural, electrical engineering, and landscape architecture design services to upgrade the Los Angeles Air Force Base (LA AFB) Main Gate Complex Entry Control Facility in El Segundo, California. LA AFB houses the headquarters of the United States Space Force’s Space and Missile Systems Center. The main entry upgrade was crucial for implementing final denial barriers to prevent vehicular threats.

The 2.22-acre site includes an existing visitor center, guard house, POV inspection canopy, fencing, and gates. New site work involved the addition of an access road, access lanes, AVB system, passive barriers, signage, pedestrian facilities, fencing, parking, minor landscape and irrigation, and minor stormwater modifications.

Plans were designed utilizing government-provided concept drawings for the project. The main points of design associated with the project included the following:

• Achieve an acceptable activation sequence of final denial barriers to stop vehicular threats from departing the ECF site.
• Provide new circulation in both directions for Orbital Loop.
• Geometric realignment of roads and medians to increase security threat ID reaction time and to improve traffic queuing.
• Construct a passive cable barrier as perimeter fencing.
• Demolish and construct in-ground pedestrian alert systems.
• Construct in-ground active and passive barrier systems, including an eight-foot barrier wall, bollards, and foundation for walls/signage, fencing, and gate modifications.
• Repaving and restriping of roadway.
• Improve existing and provide new pedestrian pathways.
• Demolish ten parking stalls and construct 22 parking stalls.
• Construct new concrete pad at overwatch locations.
• Integrate Anti-Terrorism/Force Protection (AT/FP) measures.
• Four proposed trees are to be added to landscape islands.
• Rock mulch, turf, and shrubs will fill the remaining landscape islands.
• Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plan & Permitting (SWPPP).
• Electrical power, lighting, lighting controls, technology, and security and audio/visual systems.

Galloway’s scope of work also included construction documents, construction plans, specifications, a design basis, and attendance at design development conferences with the entire design team.

Due to the unique, complex characteristics and requirements of military bases, effective project management, clear communication, and collaboration between stakeholders were essential to successful execution. The project had strict security requirements, DoD regulatory compliance, EPA compliance, and unique infrastructure standards and requirements that required specialized knowledge.

Coordinating with military operations allowed the design and construction to be executed while the busy military base entrance remained operational, minimizing disruption and staying on schedule and within budget.

The LA Air Force Base now has a more functional and safe main entry point.