SNC-Lavalin has announced that its 50/50 joint venture partnership with Graham Infrastructure, the North Link Partnership, has been awarded a $300 million contract to provide construction services for the Edmonton North light rapid transit (LRT) project.
Under the terms of the contract, the partnership will provide construction management services, provision of labour, materials and equipment for all construction work, and testing and commissioning of the system for handover to the city.
The North LRT is a 3.3 kilometer extension from the existing Churchill underground station adjacent to City Hall north-west to Grant MacEwan University, the Royal Alexandra Hospital and the Kingsway Shopping Mall, terminating at the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (NAIT) campus. The extension is an intermediary link from the existing LRT system to an eventual service line north to the city of St. Albert.
The initial 700 meters of the LRT extension will involve building an underground tunnel from the Churchill LRT station while maintaining regular LRT operations in the existing tunnel. The remaining 2.6 kilometers are at-grade guideway with three passenger stations to be constructed at MacEwan University, Kingsway/Royal Alexandra Hospital and NAIT.
Commenting on the news, Jim Burke, executive vice president of SNC-Lavalin, said: “This mandate is similar to the work we did on the Canada Line in BC, and to the work currently underway on the Calgary LRT West extension. We are happy to have this opportunity to deliver the same high-quality work in Edmonton, and we’re looking forward to working with the city to make this project a success.”
John Connolly, president of Graham Infrastructure, said: “At Graham we are excited to contribute further to the on-going development in transportation infrastructure for the city of Edmonton. The SNC-Lavalin/Graham team will build on our previous history of successful project delivery to make this project an outstanding success for all stakeholders and in particular the citizens of Edmonton.”
Work on the project began in March 2011 with a scheduled completion date of December 31, 2013.
Headquartered in Quebec, SNC-Lavalin has offices across Canada and in over 35 other countries, and is currently working in some 100 countries. The company is due to celebrate its 100th anniversary in 2011.
