Aecom gets $124-million contract extension on Edmonton LRT project
The ConnectED Transit Partnership (CTP), led by design and engineering consultancy Aecom, has received a $124-million contract amendment to continue in its role as owner’s engineer for the $2.67-billion Edmonton Valley Line light rail transit project.
Owner’s engineers represent the owners – in this case, the City of Edmonton – and work to ensure a project adheres to outlined specifications and design objectives.
Aecom and its CTP partners have served as owner’s engineers on the project since preliminary design began in 2011. The amended contract includes design and construction compliance review services for Valley Line West – the second phase of construction nearing commencement – and additional work on Valley Line Southeast, which is currently nearing completion.
The Valley Line is a 27-kilometre urban light rail line running from Mill Woods in the southeast, through downtown Edmonton, and west to Lewis Farms. Phase 1 is the line from Mill Woods to downtown Edmonton (Southeast), and Phase 2 is the line from downtown to Lewis Farms (West).
The project includes a 500-metre tunnel, two kilometres of elevated structures, and 28 stations. It also includes a new operations and maintenance facility, five transit centres, two park-and-ride facilities, and several bridges.
The transit project is being funded primarily by the province and the federal government, with each contributing approximately $1 billion. The Valley Line is expected to serve 100,000 commuters daily.
The Southeast line commenced construction in April 2016, and initially targeted a late-2020 completion date. The project has incurred multiple delays, however, and now has an estimated completion date of late-2021. Challenges included the discovery of a large concrete mass in the North Saskatchewan riverbed, which delayed bridge construction, and Covid-19-related delays due to worker absenteeism and materials supply shortages.
Construction on the West line is projected to start this year, and will continue until 2025 or 2026.
Aecom is headquartered in Los Angeles and has approximately 54,000 employees and $13.2 billion in annual revenue. The firm has in recent years been selling off its construction and non-core services to focus on higher-margin design and engineering consulting offerings. Aecom last year sold its civil construction practice to Oroco Capital, and in 2019 sold its government sector management services business to American Security and Lindsay Goldberg.
