Bechtel National, Inc., headquartered in San Francisco, California, has won a $1.8 billion, two-year contract to rebuild hospitals, schools, and government buildings in Iraq. The contract was released through the U.S. Agency for International Development (AID). Bechtel, http://www.bechtel.com, has been working under a $680 million contract to repair bridges and roads, electrical power generators and grids, water and sewage systems, and airport facilities in Iraq.
This second contract also calls for additional dredging, repair, and upgrading of the Port of Umm Qasr in southern Iraq. Two other engineering firms have teamed with Bechtel on this contract: Parsons Corp. of Pasadena, California, and Horne Engineering Services of Fairfax, Virginia. Parsons Corp. is a privately-held construction and engineering company already working in Iraq for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers destroying recovered Iraqi ammunition. Parsons Corp. has a long-standing presence throughout the Middle East, and particularly in Kuwait, where it has worked since the end of the Gulf War in 1991. Bechtel is a major contractor within the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). Bechtel SAIC Company, LLC (BSC), the prime contractor for DOE’s Yucca Mountain Project, recently won DOE-Voluntary Protection Program (VPP) Star status for safety excellence. In addition, for the second year in a row, Bechtel BWXT Idaho, LLC, the prime contractor at the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory (INEEL) was recognized with the U.S. Department of Energy’s VPP “Star of Excellence” -- one of the nation’s highest awards for safety performance. Bechtel Nevada manages operations at the Nevada Test Site and its related facilities and laboratories. Bechtel Hanford, Inc., (BHI), a subsidiary of Bechtel National, Inc., is the environmental restoration contractor at DOE’s Hanford Site. Bechtel Jacobs Company, LLC is the environmental management contractor for DOE’s Oak Ridge Operations Office. Bechtel also manages the Bettis Laboratory, a joint DOE – Department of the Navy research facility. See the full story by Shane Harris, reporter with GovExec.com, at http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/0104/010604h1.htm