Montgomery County, with Clarksville as the county seat, sits along Tennessee’s Northern border and holds historical significance in the area that predates even the forming of state itself. The history of the county, which is now called home by more than 200,000 Tennesseans, is rich with military and public service significance that continues to this day.

In 2019 the county continued this tradition with the approval to begin work on a proposed Public Safety Training Complex. The training complex will include facilities on the property for the Montgomery County Sheriff’s office, the Fire department, EMS, EMA, and a firearms training range. This 26-lane pistol and 16-lane rifle range will serve to consolidate local, state, and federal training operations currently being held across the county at three less ideal sites. In addition to this consolidation the new firearms training site boasts tremendous investments into sustainability and public well-being.

Each lane has been designed and equipped with rubber bullet traps to prevent lead fragmentation as well as a filtering system to capture and contain primer and gun-powder residue, making this the most environmentally friendly range in the region. The inclusion of steel baffles will work to reduce and control noise pollution as well as preventing errant rounds from escaping the range. The location and
design were selected to serve as a training facility for years to come. Part of that design was the decision to have the exposed structural steel hot-dipped galvanized.

The decision to hot-dip galvanize the 100+ Tons of exposed structural steel backstops, frames, baffles, and railings will safeguard the county’s investment by protecting the steel from corrosive aging and reducing the material maintenance costs for years to come. Nicholas Powell, P.E. (County Engineer) said: "We were familiar with the protective properties of hot-dipped galvanized coatings in bridge & highway applications and hoped to capture the same corrosion resistance benefits for this project.” The training facility is located in a high humidity area in close proximity to the Cumberland River. In this environment coating selection is critically important for achieving the longest material life possible.

The design, fabrication, and galvanizing of the project was a highly collaborative effort between the county engineers, fabricators, and galvanizing plant to ensure the best possible final product will be standing strong for years into the future.