A consortium including Israeli company Shikun & Binui Holdings Ltd. (TASE: SKBN) has won a tender by the state of North Dakota in the US for the planning, construction, financing, operation and maintenance of a 30-mile (48-kilometer) canal for diverting floodwater and ancillary infrastructure, including nineteen highway bridges, four railroad bridges, two aqueducts and other support structures. The canal is meant to protect the city of Fargo and the adjacent Fargo-Moorhead area against extreme flooding.
Shikun & Binui announced today that the bid by the consortium, the Red River Valley Alliance, in which a wholly owned subsidiary of the company is a member, had been selected as the winner of the tender published by the Fargo-Moorhead Metro Flood Diversion Authority (MFDA).
The total cost of the project is estimated at $1.5 billion. The Shikun & Binui subsidiary holds 42.5% of the corporation that will sign the franchise agreement. Another Shikun & Binui subsidiary holds 35% of the contracting company that will carry out the construction.
The members of the consortium include three guarantors: Acciona S.A. (for Acciona Concesiones S.L.), Shikun & Binui Ltd (for Shikun & Binui Concessions USA and Shikun & Binui-America), and North American Energy Partners Inc. (for North American Enterprises Ltd.). The four lead contractors are Red River Constructors, Acciona Infraestructuras S.A., Shikun & Binui-America Inc., and North American Enterprises Ltd. The three lead engineers are Red River Valley Alliance Design JV, Hatch Associates Consultants Inc., and COWI North America Inc. The two subcontractors are Amec Foster Wheeler and Wenck Associates Inc.
The concession for operating and maintaining the project is for 29 years from the end of the construction period, which is expected to be six years, starting in the fourth quarter of 2021. The signing of the franchise agreement is subject to various conditions.
The project is a partnership between the consortium and the US Army Corps of Engineers.
Shikun & Binui chairman and CEO Tamir Cohen said, "The group's ability to compete for and win mega projects in the US infrastructure market, which is undergoing accelerated development, demonstrates the group's international capabilities. The group will continued to focus on the US market in all its areas of activity, under the strategy determined by the board of directors. The value of the activity in the US market is expected to reach $4 billion this year."
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on June 20, 2021
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