Garco Construction Inc., of Spokane, says it has landed a $44.6 million contract to build replacement family housing at Malmstrom Air Force Base, near Great Falls, Mont.

The project will include demolishing 70 duplexes and replacing them with 64 new duplexes and six single-family homes for a total of 134 housing units, says Hollister Barnett, Garco's project manager. It also will involve replacement of streets, sidewalks, drainage systems, and utilities at the project site, in west-central Montana, Barnett says.

Individual housing units will have 2,200 to 2,400 square feet of floor space, which Barnett says is larger than typical family housing at other bases. In addition, each unit will have a two-car garage, he says.

WJA PLLC, of Seattle, is the designer.

The construction contract was awarded through the Seattle District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Work will start in early March and will take three years to finish.

The contract is Garco's second biggest military job to date. Its largest is a $59 million job Garco landed in 2006. That project, also at Malmstrom, involves the demolition of 58 structures and construction of 43 buildings with a total of 206 living units. Garco will complete it next August, he says.

Barnett says several thousand people live on base at Malmstrom, which borders the east side of Great Falls.

"Malmstrom has a large amount of new housing, and it's very proud of it," he says.

Two additional base-housing projects at Malmstrom are scheduled to go to bid this year, Barnett says.

Malmstrom occupies 3,600 acres of land and is home to the 341st Missile Wing of the U.S. Air Force Space Command. The wing operates, maintains, and secures 150 Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missiles in the world's largest missile complex, which spans 13,800 square miles across nine Montana counties, an Air Force Web site says. It's supported by the 40th Helicopter Squadron, which operates the only aircraft stationed there.