ConDig (30-May-19). A Fluor Corp and Balfour Beatty Infrastructure, Inc joint venture has driven off with a $1.7 billion contract to revamp the I-635 highway in Dallas, Texas.

Under the design and build deal with the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT), Irving, Texas-based Fluor said the joint venture will widen and fully reconstruct about 11 miles of I-635, also known as LBJ Freeway.

The company said it expects substantial completion in the second half of 2024 and noted that the contract also includes an option for Fluor to provide capital maintenance services following construction of the project.

“The award of this critical mobility improvement project to Fluor’s joint venture with Balfour Beatty is a clear demonstration of our ability to use innovation to improve cost and schedule and the value that TxDOT places on the services we have continuously provided to them for the last 18 years,” said Terence Easton, president of Fluor’s infrastructure and power division. 

“Fluor remains focused on and committed to the Texas infrastructure market and the upcoming numerous opportunities with TxDOT.”

The project includes adding a general purpose lane in each direction and rebuilding the existing managed lane in each direction to this critical section of I-635. The project will also feature the construction of continuous frontage roads with numerous intersection improvements for the frontage roads and cross streets to function more efficiently, including the design and construction of a signature bridge at the Skillman/Audelia intersection. 

Fluor said the overall goal is to improve mobility and reduce traffic congestion in a main Dallas-Fort Worth commuter corridor that carries more than 200,000 vehicles per day.

Last year, an international consortium led by engineering and construction group Fluor Corp (FLR) and Balfour Beatty reached financial close on a $4.9 billion deal to build an automated people-mover at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX).