OHL heads a project in Florida worth €180.5 million

The OHL Group, through its subsidiary Community Asphalt, leads a Temporary Union of three enterprises (with 50%) to which the Florida Department of Transportation has awarded a € 180.5 million contract for designing and building the express lanes on state highways 826 (Palmetto Expressway) and 93 (I-75), two of the heaviest transited roads in the Miami metropolitan area.

The express lanes will be built to span a total of approximately 20.9 km. For the Palmetto Expressway, a section stretching 16.1 km will be built and have one or two lanes in each direction, depending on the area, from Flagler Street to NW 154th Street. In turn, an express lane will be built in each direction on the I-75 for a section spanning 4.8 km from state highway 826 to NW 170th Street. In the future, the system will be extended from this street to Interstate 595.

An elevated structure will connect the express lanes between highways 826 and I-75. In addition to this construction work, the project contemplates the widening and improvement of both highways in the sections of intervention. In this regard, surfacing, repaving, drainage, lighting, signposting, seeding and planting will also be undertaken in addition to the installation of an Intelligent Transportation System (ITS).

The established timeline for execution is 1,175 days, virtually 700 days less than the timeline established in the tender. The construction work was awarded on consideration of technical and economic criteria. This work will directly intersect with the SR 826/836 four-level interchange, the largest of its sort in Miami with a maximum height of up to 32 m. Its construction was awarded in 2009 to a Temporary Union of the same enterprises also led by the subsidiary Community Asphalt.