Turner Construction Puts Finishing Touches on $54 Million Biosecurity Research Institute in Kansas

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Reported by Annette Kreuger, Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas). Kansas State University (Manhattan, Kansas) will soon unveil its state-of-the-art $54 million Biosecurity Research Institute. Turner Construction (New York, New York), serving as construction manager at risk on the project, began work on the facility in 2004 and expects to finish later this summer.

Saint Louis-based architects Peckham, Guyton, Albers, and Viet designed the 113,000 square-foot building, which will feature 31,000 square feet of dedicated laboratory space, along with 10,000 square feet of administrative areas. The Biosafety Level 3 (BSL-3) facility’s focus of research will be on those pathogens and pests that affect animal and plant-based agricultural systems, including plant pathology, food safety, molecular biology, entomology and veterinary medicine. Research suites contained within the institute will include:

• food animal infectious disease research suite
• food processing research suite
• food crop infectious disease research suite
• basic biology of infectious disease research suite
• biosecurity education suite for training and sharing information

Programs at the institute will provide both education and training targeting agricultural and human health in regards to methods of containing an outbreak of disease, both unintentional and malicious in nature. Other work will include developing safer food and meat processing methods and studying ways to utilize the natural mechanisms animals use to ward off infectious diseases.

The institute will also feature special air-handling systems designed to prevent the release of toxic materials from the enclosed research areas. Other added safety precautions include processing all waste in such a manner to eradicate even the strongest microorganisms. A thorough series of educational and training programs will be required prior to working within the facility.

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