Award: 3-mile highway extension
Value: $116.9 million
Location: Davis County, Utah
Client: Utah DOT
Granite Construction is sticking to its knitting with a $116.9 million highway contract win on Utah’s State Route 177, according to a Wednesday news release.
The Watsonville, California-based road builder will extend the recently completed four-lane highway in Davis County, Utah, about 40 minutes north of Salt Lake City, by approximately 3 miles.
The West Davis Corridor Expansion project will address unforeseen population growth that has occurred since the original project’s environmental study was completed in 2017, according to Utah DOT. By 2050, the number of homes in western Davis and Weber counties is projected to increase by 74%, according to the agency.
Project scope for the job includes the construction of nine new bridges, two pedestrian crossings, approximately 70,000 tons of asphalt paving and placement of more than 1 million cubic yards of borrow material.
Granite’s Wells Pit facility in nearby Willard will supply 400,000 cubic yards of borrow and 350,000 tons of mechanically stabilized earth, per the release, while the contractor’s West Haven AC Plant will provide 70,000 tons of hot mix asphalt.
The win, though diminutive compared to megaprojects such as New York’s $16 billion Hudson Tunnel, illustrates the civil infrastructure builder’s business approach. In recent years, Granite has eschewed massive, multibillion-dollar projects in favor of smaller, more predictable work packages. Under that approach, it also targets jobs where it can tap its own material plants in the surrounding area for supplies, a tactic it refers to as its “home market strategy.”
It also follows Granite’s April acquisition of Provo, Utah-based infrastructure contractor Kenny Seng Construction.
“This project represents an important step in continuing the buildout of the West Davis Corridor, improving access and mobility for the growing northern Davis County region,” Jason Klaumann, Granite regional vice president, said in the release. “It aligns with our core strengths in structures, paving, and materials, and our home market strategy.”
UDOT expects the project to be complete by 2028.
