Mott MacDonald team wins Californian rail contract

Mott MacDonald/PGH Wong Engineering Joint Venture has won a contract worth up to US$125m (£97m) for engineering work on a rail project in California, USA.Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) has appointed the team to provide general engineering services for the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) Silicon Valley Phase II Extension.The effort to find a general engineering contractor began in May 2018 with an industry forum attended by over 350 interested parties attended. A competitive bid process followed, resulting in the final contract award to the team, which will perform design and engineering work on the five-mile tunnel, four station areas and two ventilation structures as well as system-wide work.The work will be used initially in preparation for a federal funding request in spring 2020. The team will be tasked with getting the BART Phase II project to a 30% engineering level to inform costs and schedule estimates needed to demonstrate the adequacy of VTA’s plans to participate in a Federal Transit Administration pilot programme.