The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) has kept Watsonville, California-based Granite Construction busy during the last five years, with approximately $955 million in contracts between October 2013 and October 2018, according to the Los Angeles Times.
The agency recently added one more project to the infrastructure giant's schedule. Granite announced last week that Caltrans has awarded it and Teichert Inc., its joint venture partner, a $275 million contract to overhaul 67 miles of Interstate 5 through Sacramento.
The SAC 5 Corridor Enhancement Project is intended to decrease congestion through the use of high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes and extend the life of the existing 1970s-era roadway, reducing the need for maintenance and giving motorists a higher-quality travel experience.
As part of the JV's contract, it will upgrade the pavement on the stretch of I-5 that is under contract, along with all of its ramps and connectors, to a 40-year pavement service life; add auxiliary lanes as well as extend acceleration and deceleration lanes; build 23 miles of HOV lanes; update a pedestrian overcrossing and curb ramps to meet Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) standards; build new maintenance vehicle pullouts and update existing ramps to enhance maintenance work safety; and build two new sound walls.
Granite said the JV also plans on installing fiber-optic lines during construction and recycling concrete and other materials during the course of its work, which will minimize the number of necessary truck trips and reduce cost and waste. The JV is scheduled to start its scope of work this summer and wrap up in late 2021.
Upcoming projects
While Granite's operational home base is in California, the company does work all over the country, and just about a month ago, announced that it had been awarded a $505 million contract to build a portion of Virgin Trains USA's $4 billion Florida expansion from West Palm Beach to a new terminal at Orlando International Airport.
Granite's scope of work includes approximately 35 miles of rail alignment between the airport and Cocoa Beach and will require 525,000 cubic yards of excavation and another 5 million cubic yards of embankment fill. The company will also build an earth-retaining wall of more than 1.2 million square feet; a 2,000-cubic-yard cast-in-place concrete retaining wall; 18 new bridges; and three underpasses.
Granite and JV partner Boh Bros. Construction also have been shortlisted by the Florida DOT — along with the teams of Archer Western Construction/Traylor Bros. and Kiewit Infrastructure South and Massman Construction Co. — for an $814 million contract to build a new span next to the existing Interstate 275 Howard Frankland Bridge, which connects Tampa and St. Petersburg over Old Tampa Bay. Technical proposals are due in August, followed by formal price proposals in October. The FDOT has said it will select the winning bidder on October 14.
