Odebrecht awarded Miami Metrorail contract

A joint venture led by Odebrecht has won a US$ 360 million contract from the Miami-Dade Board of County Commissioners to complete the first phase of Miami Metrorail's three-phase Orange Line expansion.

To be completed within three years, the 2.4-mile (3.86 km) Airport Connection will connect the Miami Intermodal Center at Miami International Airport to Metrorail's Earlington Heights station.

The Phase 1contract calls for the joint venture - Oderbrecht (50%), The Tower Group (25%) and Community Asphalt (25%) - to construct three substations, and a passenger and bus station, and upgrade or construct several connecting roadways.

Under terms of the contract, 25% of construction work on the project must be carried out by the joint venture itself, with another 12% carried out by Disadvantaged Business Enterprises (DBEs) consisting mainly of small and minority-owned businesses. The project is expected to benefit approximately 30 companies and employ some 300 workers from throughout the Miami-Dade community.

Odebrecht is set to break ground in the coming weeks on the MIA Mover, an Automated People Mover connecting Miami International Airport with the Miami Intermodal Center, completing the link to the Airport Connection. The contract for the 1.27 mile-long (2.04 km) MIA Mover, also being built under a joint venture, includes the full turnkey design, engineering and construction.