Spanish, French and American firms shortlisted for $2.3bn Silicon Valley tunnel scheme

The Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) in California has chosen a shortlist of three consortiums to work on tunnels for the $2.3bn second phase of its extension of the Bay Area Rapid Transit System (Bart), Tunnelling Journal reports. 

After evaluating statements of qualification, the VTA has picked the following bids:

• The BART Silicon Valley Phase II Tunnel Partners (B2TP), a joint venture between Spanish contractors Acciona and FCC with Lane Construction Corporation (a subsidiary of Italy’s Webuild) and Pittsburgh-based consulting engineer Hatch Associates.
• Bay Valley Connect, a joint venture between Bouygues subsidiary Civil & Building North America and Vinci, together with Montana-based Barnard Construction, US consultant Parsons.
• Kiewit Shea Traylor Joint Venture, a predominantly American consortium made up of contractors Kiewit Infrastructure, JF Shea Construction and Traylor Brothers, supported by Kiewit Engineering Group and the UK consulting engineer Arup.

The three are bidding for the Bart Silicon Valley Phase II Extension Project, which will extend the service into downtown San Jose and terminate in Santa Clara. Construction work on the new line’s four-station extension is expected to start in 2022.

The successful bidder will design and construct about 8km of tunnel and three underground station substructures.

Image: Site of the planned Santa Clara Bart station (mliu92/CC BY-SA 2.0) 

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