The United States Section of the International Boundary and Water
Commission
(USIBWC) has awarded three construction contracts for rehabilitation of
Rio Grande
Canalization Project levees funded through the American Recovery and
Reinvestment Act of
2009. The Recovery Act includes $220 million for USIBWC levee projects.
A contract in the amount of $26.1 million was awarded to Lakeshore
Engineering
Services, Inc. of Detroit, Michigan to construct 32 miles of levee
improvements in Doņa Ana
County, New Mexico from Shalem Bridge to Vado Bridge. In accordance with
the contract,
Lakeshore Engineering Services will furnish all labor and materials for
levee construction.
A contract in the amount of $18.8 million was awarded to Milestone
Excavation, Inc. of
Dolores, Colorado for construction of 29 miles of levee improvements
between Vado Bridge and
Borderland Bridge in Doņa Ana County, New Mexico and El Paso County,
Texas.
Milestone Excavation was also awarded a contract in the amount of $5.5
million for
construction of levee improvements near Hatch, New Mexico. The work will
cover 14 miles of
levee on the west side of the Rio Grande between Hatch Siphon and
Bignell Arroyo.
For all three contracts, construction is expected to
be completed by early 2011.
With the Recovery Act funds, we are now able to speed up work on the
deficient
levees, said U.S. Commissioner C.W. Bill Ruth of the International
Boundary and Water
Commission.
The USIBWC is raising levee height and making structural improvements to
bring the
levees into compliance with standards established by the Federal
Emergency Management
Agency (FEMA) to provide protection against the 100-year river flood. To
date, the USIBWC
has awarded $144 million in Recovery Act contracts, including the
contracts described above
and others for levee work in the Lower Rio Grande Valley in South Texas.
The USIBWC has
also raised flood control levees near Mesilla Dam in New Mexico and in
parts of El Paso
County, Texas using in-house crews. Contracts for construction of
additional levee
improvements in Doņa Ana County, New Mexico and El Paso and Hudspeth
Counties, Texas
funded by the Recovery Act will be awarded in the coming weeks and
months. The purpose
of the Recovery Act is to create and save jobs, promote economic
recovery, and invest in
infrastructure that will provide long-term economic benefits.
The USIBWC provides regular public updates on its planning and spending
of Recovery
Act funds at www.recovery.gov and
www.state.gov/recovery. A project
schedule is available at
www.ibwc.gov/Files/URG_Schedule.pdf.
Contact:
Sally Spener
915-832-4175
sallyspener@ibwc.gov |
