The NBAF project was the primary topic for the Junction City Rotary Club meeting on Tuesday at the convention center.

The liason from NBAF to the president at Kansas State University, Ron Trewyn, told the audience the purpose of the facility being built in Manhattan is to protect U.S. livestock from animal diseases including thoe that spread from animals to people.

Construction is under way right now. Trewyn said the excavation for the main lab began in the July – August time frame of last year. “One hundred-twenty thousand cubic yards of dirt were removed from the site.” He also stated there will be a five-year construction period on the project.

The cost to build the lab has been calculated at $834 million, an $80 million central utility plant has already been built on the site. It will take 60,000 yards of concrete, 13,000 tons of steel, and four and a half billion linear feet of electrical wire. That wire would cover an 800-mile distance.

There are four cranes in place for the construction effort, and the hole dug at the facility site was 43-feet deep. Trewyn noted on some days more than 1,000 construction workers will be on the site.