Spain’s OHL wins £284.3m D&B BRT project in South Florida

OHL, the Spanish global infrastructure group, has announced that its subsidiary OHL USA has achieved what it calls ‘its most important contract to date’, a £284.3 million design and build project in Florida for the Department of Transportation and Public Works (DTPW), following approval by the Miami-Dade Board of County Commissioners.

In a statement, OHL says that the goal of the project is to convert the South Corridor (South Dade Transitway) into a Bus Rapid Transit Project (BRT). It is one of six rapid transit corridors of the Strategic Miami Area Rapid Transit Plan (SMART), and the first to move forward towards the construction phase, it adds.

The project runs along 32kms of exclusive transit right-of-way between the SW 344th Street Station and Dadeland South, adjacent to US-1, Old Dixie Highway and Flagler Avenue, and connects five municipalities in South Florida.

The major scopes of work for the project include the construction of 14 BRT stations in South Corridor and a Park and Ride Garage, the statement says, highlighting that the project will improve travel time for customers, create a dedicated right-of-way, institute pre-paid fare for quicker boarding, and enhance safety.

Other benefits include:

• Low maintenance, and sustainable materials, long‐term performance.
• Safe, efficient, and effective access control.
• Include wayfinding and facility technologies.
• Constructed entirely within the County’s or FDOT’s (Florida Department of Transportation) right‐of‐ way.
• Maintain existing transit operations.
• Provisions for Art in Public Places (AIPP) features.
• Design future conversion from BRT to at‐grade heavy rail transit (HRT).

OHL USA’s subsidiary company, OHL Building, Inc, will participate in the project by constructing the SW 168th Street Park and Ride Garage, the statement adds. It will also provide architectural coordination services for the fitouts of the 14 landmark stations.

In 2020, OHL USA and its subsidiaries have been successful in winning significant new work across the United States, the statement highlights. With the South Corridor project, OHL USA has won over £772.4 million in new work as of September 2020. 

Some of the company’s other key projects include: A contract for roadway and bridge widening and reconstruction of the Tri-State Tollway in Illinois for £117.1 million; a Design Build contract for the construction of the Elmont Station on Long Island, NY, for £50.2 million; as well as several roadway projects for Caltrans in Southern California, where OHL is currently performing in a joint venture its largest project in the USA – the I-405 Improvement Project valued at £926.9 million.

OHL USA’s major scopes of work on the project include:

• 14 BRT stations fully convertible to Heavy Rail Transit (HRT).
• Rehabilitation of existing stations (16 locations, 32 shelters).
• Two terminal stations (Dadeland South and SW344th Street Station).
• Transitway corridor improvements along 20 miles of exclusive transit right‐of‐way.
• Two (2) FDOT safety improvement projects.
• SW 168th Street Park‐and‐Ride/Garage.
• DTPW Construction Project: Roadway Improvements to SW 264th Street.