OHL wins new projects in California (USA) worth €131 million

The OHL group – through its construction subsidiary, OHL USA – has been awarded five new contracts in the State of California, worth €131 million ($175.2 million). Amongst these projects are the first ones for OHL USA with the city of Los Angeles, Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (LA METRO) and with the California State Department of Transportation (Caltrans).

These contracts, won at close of 2013 and in January 2014, bring the number of OHL USA projects in California – since commencement of operations in this state in 2013 – to six: the result of bids made concentrating fundamentally on public organizations in the Los Angeles area.

The first contract was awarded in August 2013, for the Wilmington Avenue Interchange project, with a budget of €12.35 million ($17.6 million), bringing the total contract value for OHL USA in the State of California to €143.4 million ($192.8 million).

These projects will facilitate OHL USA relations with State of California public organizations -Caltrans, LA METRO, city of Los Angeles, the Port of Los Angeles, San Bernardino Associated Governments (Sanbag) and San Diego Associated Governments (Sandag), amongst others – and improve the company’s standing for bids for new contracts.

Largest project in California

Amongst the new contracts, the largest budget is that awarded by the city of Los Angeles for the rehabilitation of the Lake Machado ecosystem. At €56.13 million ($74.8 million), it is also the largest amount that OHL USA has achieved so far in the State of California.

The main objective of this project is to improve the quality of the water in Lake Machado, 18.2 hectares, which is located in Ken Malloy Harbor Regional Park, 117.4 hectares. It will be a benchmark for other tenders in the area of water quality improvement – a growing market segment.

Projected actions at Lake Machado include dredging and extraction of polluted sediment, treating the lakebed for sediment, elimination of invasive lakeside vegetation and construction of oxygenation and phosphorus elimination systems, along with new installations for eliminating rainwater pollutants that get into the lake and for guaranteeing maintenance of water quality. The dam structure located to the extreme south of the lake will also be rehabilitated.

Furthermore, the natural habitat of the park will be improved, with measures such as revegetation with indigenous plants and recreational installations.

LA METRO

For its part, the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (LA METRO) has awarded OHL USA the project for rebuilding the overground bus station at the Patsaouras Plaza and building a direct pedestrian access route to the Union metro station at the plaza, which is located in the center of the city of Los Angeles.

With a budget of €15 million ($20 million), it is OHL USA’s first work with LA METRO and first design and construction project in California.

First contract with Caltrans

Amongst the contracts won by OHL USA, there is also the first one with Caltrans, the California State Department of Transportation, with a budget of €13.8 million ($18.6 million).

The project will take place in the city of Anaheim, in Orange County in the south of California, and will involve the rebuilding of the intersections between state freeways SR-91 and SR-55. Freeway SR-91 is an important east-west route and one of the most travelled in the south of California. Amongst the projected actions the most noteworthy one, due to its complexity, is the expansion of the bridge over the Santa Ana river, which will involve working in the active flood control channel.

Overhead crossing for the BNSF railroad

Lastly, OHL USA has won two contracts for the construction of two bridges over the Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) railroad, with a joint budget of €46 million ($61.7 million).

The one with the larger budget of €25.9 million is the one awarded by the Riverside County Transportation Department for the construction of a 445 m long, 10 span bridge in Riverside that will extend Magnolia Avenue over the railroad. The current crossing takes daily traffic of 80 trains and its elimination would mean greater safety and more fluid traffic flow in the area.

The second bridge, with a length of 77 m, two spans and a budget of €20.1 million, will be built in the city of Anaheim and will involve raising and extending Lakeview Avenue over the railroads. It was awarded by the Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA), who have important construction projects programmed for coming years.