The City of Charlotte, NC has awarded the Charlotte LYNX Blue Line Extension project to Balfour Beatty Infrastructure, Inc. (BBII) and joint venture partner Blythe Development Co. The $108 million project supports BBII’s strategy of leveraging its rail and civil operations wherever possible to win and perform work.
“Combining our rail and civil skill sets has been part of our strategy, and it’s a commitment we’ve all been focused on intently,” said Mark Johnnie, vice president of BBII’s Southeast Region. “This marks our first rail civils project win in the Southeast.”
The LYNX Blue Line Extension entails 4.5 miles of civil work that will support construction of the Blue Line Extension, segment A, Charlotte’s double-track light rail transit system extension. Set to start in late February, the project will run for 26 months.
“Winning this job gives us the opportunity to be more strategic in the way we approach upcoming bids,” Johnnie said. “Our divisions, Balfour Beatty Rail and Fru-Con, were involved in this bidding process, offering their recommendations and expertise. That certainly gave us an edge.”
Both the Rail Services and Transit divisions of Balfour Beatty Rail were integral to the bid process, he added. Transit estimating teams examined the project drawings, and a team from Rail Services gave recommendations on issues of class 1 rail, and removal and relocation of track. Fru-Con also helped by providing advice and cost analyses of dewatering, temporary water treatment operations and contaminated soil removal.
“It’s a great example of how we can bring together our different disciplines and strengths to benefit the entire company,” Johnnie said.
This is the first of two civils contracts associated with the project.
“Generally speaking, civils comprise 50 percent of any rail job,” said Ray Bond, president and CEO of BBII. “When an opportunity arises within the geographies we serve, our civil and rail operations will work in tandem. We’re pleased to see our first such project in the Southeast Region, and we look forward to seeing many more.”
BBII is looking for the new year to bring more opportunities for its divisions as they work together to meet clients’ needs comprehensively from a single, proven source.
Media enquiries:
Steve Jones
Tel. +1 404 253 1147
sjones@bbiius.com
Notes to editors:
1. Balfour Beatty Infrastructure, Inc. delivers industry-leading civil engineering and construction expertise for transportation and water infrastructure projects throughout the United States. Balfour Beatty Infrastructure and its divisions, Balfour Beatty Rail and Fru-Con Construction, have approximately 1,700 employees. With headquarters in Atlanta, Balfour Beatty Infrastructure is a subsidiary of Balfour Beatty plc, a global engineering, construction, services and investment business organisation specialising in large infrastructure and building programs.
2. Balfour Beatty (www.balfourbeatty.com) is an international infrastructure group that delivers world class services essential to the development, creation and care of infrastructure assets; from finance and development, through design and project management to construction and maintenance.
Our businesses draw on more than 100 years of experience to deliver the highest levels of quality, safety and technical expertise to our clients principally in the UK and the USA, with developing businesses in Australia, Canada, the Middle East, South Africa and South East Asia.
With proven expertise in delivering infrastructure critical to support communities and society today and in the future, our key market sectors focus on infrastructure - transportation (roads, rail and aviation), power and energy, water and complex buildings (both commercial and social).
Balfour Beatty employs 40,000 people around the world.
