ConDig (16-Aug-19).  A joint venture between Fluor Corporation FLR and United Infrastructure Group has driven off with a $263 million contract to expand the 1-26 near Asheville, North Carolina.

Under the deal with the N.C. Department of Transportation, the joint venture vehicle will expand the interstate from four lanes to eight, four in each direction, doubling the interstate’s capacity. 

The project will include the construction of seven bridges, multiple retaining walls, upgrading all drainage systems, new concrete pavement and other safety improvements.

Construction is expected to take five years and work on the project is slated to start in the fall of this year.

Fluor said that its order book had been underpinned recently by growing demand for infrastructure development, with revenues from its mining, industrial, infrastructure and power division rising 12.9% in the second quarter on a year-over-year basis. 

It comes as the division booked new awards worth $510 million in the quarter, while project backlog at the end of the quarter amounted to $13.5 billion compared with $12.4 billion a year ago. The company projects revenues to grow 30-40% in second-half of the year.

In May, a Fluor and Balfour Beatty Infrastructure joint venture secured a $1.7 billion contract to revamp the I-635 highway in Dallas, Texas.