The Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command Pacific tapped a Tutor Perini subsidiary for a $222 million airport project in Tinian, located on the Northern Mariana Islands on April 24, according to a press release from the company.

The Navy’s Pacific engineering branch selected Barrigada, Guam-based firm Black Construction, through its business unit Black Micro, to build roads and facilities. The firm will:

• Construct a cargo pad with taxiway extension.
• Install fuel tanks with a receipt pipeline and hydrant system.
• Work on airfield development Phase I roads.
• Build a maintenance support facility.

In addition to the listed work, the fixed-price contract contains three unexercised options, which if exercised, would increase the cumulative contract value to $226 million, according to the release. Work is expected to begin immediately, and the company anticipates substantial completion by October 2026. 

Black Construction Corp. performs a breadth of construction services in the Pacific, ranging from commercial office buildings to military installations and projects. Los Angeles-based Tutor-Saliba, a precursor to Tutor Perini prior to the company’s merger with Perini Corp., acquired the firm in 1996.

The $222 million award is the second in as many weeks for the company and its subsidiaries. Black River Falls, Wisconsin-based Lunda Construction Co., another subsidiary of Tutor Perini, announced a $62 million bridge rehabilitation contract on April 17 for I-494 in Bloomington, Minnesota through the state’s DOT.

The Los Angeles-based company has dealt with its share of struggles through the beginning of the year. 

The company reported losses on its 2022 revenue and earnings, a result of courtroom defeats and high-profile project cancellations, such as the $4 billion Capital Beltway project in the Washington, D.C. area.

Tutor said during the company’s full-year 2022 earnings call that Tutor Perini had lost $11 billion in potential new work in the past two years, and added, “That’s more low bids than we’ve lost in the history of the company over 50 years.”

Beyond those losses, the firm is also expecting to book an additional $84 million loss on its George Washington Bridge Bus Station project when it reports first quarter earnings later this week. According to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the company recently lost a protracted legal battle on the troubled development in the Washington Heights area of Manhattan that resulted in the charge.