Fort Riley ? Try to enter this historic post on any given day, and the wait could be lengthy.

Trucks loaded with concrete, equipment and building supplies line up in a steady stream, feeding the construction beast that has become Fort Riley.

The post is undergoing $1 billion worth of construction with the Army’s decision to move thousands of 1st Infantry Division soldiers and their families from Europe. The division, which left for Germany in 1995 after 50 years in Kansas, comes home in August.

Crews have little time to erect new barracks, administration buildings and maintenance facilities for the troops. Orchestrating the rapid growth keeps public works director Larry McGee busy, even on weekends, to see that deadlines are met.

“In 25 years, I’ve never seen anything like this at Fort Riley,” McGee said.

Workers were busy Friday at Camp Funston on the post’s southeast corner. An $80 million project will serve Army Reserve and National Guard soldiers who mobilize for deployments. New barracks, maintenance buildings and administration buildings are taking shape on ground used to mobilize thousands of soldiers for duty overseas during World War I.

“It’s going back to its original purpose,” McGee said.

Construction work continues Friday on a new barracks at Fort Riley.

Reserves and Guard soldiers previously were housed on Custer Hill, the main area on the 100,000-acre post where troops live, train and prepare for war. The space is occupied by the 4th Brigade of the 1st Infantry Division, formally activated two weeks ago.

On Custer Hill, new barracks and offices are being constructed for the brigade. Structures built in the 1950s will be torn down and replaced with new housing. When the housing is completed in August, unmarried enlisted soldiers will have new private quarters and greater creature comforts, such as storage space and a kitchenette.

But Fort Riley will not be able to house all of the soldiers and their families.

McGee and the garrison commander, Col. Ty Smith, said there will be about 3,500 units for married soldiers and officers, leaving a deficit of about 5,900 homes or apartments that must be absorbed by surrounding communities.

Smith said Fort Riley is taking into account that the Army is providing soldiers more stability, allowing them to stay at one post for as long as 12 years. That means many more will have the opportunity to purchase homes instead of renting, creating a need for more affordable housing.

Also, he said, 55 percent of the new soldiers are expected to have families, putting pressure on schools and other infrastructure.

Additional construction will take place later this year when an aviation brigade from Europe is stationed at Marshall Field along Interstate 70, bringing more than 100 Army Apache, Blackhawk and Chinook helicopters. The Army has budgeted about $15 million in new construction of hangars and runway improvements for the field.

There are challenges.

Workers construct roof sections for new barracks Friday at Fort Riley. These units are scheduled to be finished by August. It's part of a construction boom at Fort Riley as it welcomes home the 1st Infantry Division flag and thousands of soldiers, families and civilian employees.

Contractors have been forced to expand their reach to pull in enough workers to complete projects because of the pace of construction and the competing demands in nearby communities.

In addition, the decision by the Pentagon not to deploy one brigade of the 1st Infantry Division to Iraq for a year means Custer Hill facilities will remain crowded.

McGee said the original plan was to move the returning 3rd Brigade, 1st Armored Division, into those buildings while the 3rd Brigade’s were renovated or replaced. That will require careful juggling of space to complete the work, while maintaining a hectic construction schedule.

“It’s all a pleasant surprise,” he said.