New maintenance hangar opens today Published May 13, 2011 By Wayne Crenshaw 78th Air Base Wing Public Affairs ROBINS AIR FORCE BASE, Ga. -- The ribbon will be cut today on an 86,000 sq. ft., $24.1 million maintenance hangar which has been six years in the making. While it will be a few days before the first wrench is turned in the facility because equipment and other materials must be moved in and set up, when it's fully operational the hangar will help with the Center's growing C-130 workload. It can house either four C-130s or one C-130 and one C-17. The MILCON (Military Construction) project was requested in 2005, and work on the hangar began in December 2009. It included removing more than 1,600 dump-truck loads of dirt from the site to ensure the building is level with the flightline. The hangar was completed April 29, about a month ahead of schedule. David Trescott, the 778th Civil Engineer Squadron's base project manager, noted a unique feature of the building is it has two 7.5-ton cranes mounted to the ceiling, along with a fall-protection system. The fall-protection system will allow mechanics working on aircraft wings to easily attach themselves to harnesses hooked to overhead cables. The hangar will be used primarily for work on center wing boxes and the C-130J models. It was designed to accommodate about 120 mechanics and 20 administrative personnel. The ribbon cutting ceremony is scheduled for 9 a.m.