Swedish contractor Skanska has won an $89m contract to help lay the foundations for a new shipyard building in Connecticut tasked with making the next generation of ballistic missile submarines for the US Navy.
It will carry out drilled shaft and bulkhead work for shipbuilder General Dynamics Electric Boat’s new, 18,600-sq-m South Yard Assembly Building (SYAB) in Groton, where 1,400 workers will build the Columbia Class of submarines (pictured).
The 12 Columbia Class ships will replace the existing Ohio Class nuclear ballistic submarine force. The US Navy has said the first patrol of the lead ship is scheduled for 2031.Â
Skanska, as part of a joint venture with Trevcon II, signed the contract with Aecom, which is the construction manager for the project. It broke ground last month, with Gilbane Building Company of Providence, Rhode Island as project manager and Jacobs Engineering as the design firm.Â
Electric Boat said the SYAB is the centrepiece of an $850m expansion of its Groton Shipyard. The company will also expand and update other manufacturing spaces and build a floating dry dock to launch Columbia submarines.
Skanska said its $89m share of the contract will be included in the US order bookings for the third quarter of 2019.
The Trevcon II joint venture will install more than 500 drilled shafts to support the SYAB, and will also be responsible for the furnishing, as well as marine work including demolition, dredging, and blasting.
Construction is will continue through summer 2020, Skanska said.
Image: Artist’s render of the US Navy’s Columbia Class ballistic missile submarines (US Navy/Public domain)
