ConDig (08-Jun-17).  Watsonville, California-based Granite Construction Inc has secured a $54 million contract to revamp the Sterling Highway in Sterling, Alaska.

Under the deal with the Alaska Department of Transportation & Public Facilities, the company will upgrade 21 miles of the existing pavement, widen the highway shoulders from four feet to eight feet and add eight miles of passing lanes between milepost 58 to milepost 79.

Granite will also build six miles of fencing, six multi-plate tunnels intended for wildlife crossings, a bridge over East Fork Moose River and a pedestrian undercrossing for the Skyline Trail.

Construction is slated to start this summer and is expected to be complete by next summer.

Last month, Granite reported deeper losses in the first quarter of this year amid a rise in expenses and squeezed margins.

The company reported a net loss of $23.8 million for the three months ended March 31 compared with a loss of $10.4 million in the first quarter of last year.

Granite reported selling, general and administrative expenses increasing to $61.8 million compared with $56.1 million in the year-ago period, while gross profit margin was 5.4% compared with 8.9%.