With a staff of dedicated, hard-working employees, Jacksonville District’s Contracting Division executed 1,218 contract awards for a total of $573 million in obligations during fiscal year 2013, the highest number of awards the district has ever executed in a single fiscal year.
Carlos Clarke, chief of the Contracting Division, said that the $221 million award for the Miami Harbor Deepening project, to deepen the channel to 50 feet, topped the list. “This will prepare the Port of Miami to receive larger shipping vessels following the Panama Canal expansion, which is scheduled to be completed in 2015,” Clarke said.
The contract for the Miami Harbor Deepening project was awarded to the Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Company, LLC in May 2013. Dredging operations began in November.
Additionally, Clarke said, the division awarded a contract for construction of the Miller Pump Station. It is the third and final pump station for Picayune Strand Restoration Project.
The $75.5 million contract was awarded Sept. 5 to Archer Western Construction, LLC of Tampa, Fla., to construct the station, which includes a 1,250 cubic feet per second (cfs) pump station, a tie-back levee system, a spreader basin and road removal and canal plugging which will rehydrate a portion of the 55,000-acre project.
The division also granted contracts for repairs at Herbert Hoover Dike (HHD). As part of the ongoing HHD rehabilitation, the Corps awarded a contract to Harry Pepper & Associates of Jacksonville. It calls for replacement of Culvert 8 (S-268) near Okeechobee along the north side of the lake and Culvert 13 (S-272) near Canal Point in Palm Beach County. Work on this project is expected to be complete by the spring of 2017.
Other HHD rehabilitation contracts were awarded to Edens Construction, Co., in the amount of $4.7 million for replacement of Culvert(s) 7, 9 and Taylor Creek Culvert; WRS Infrastructure & Environmental, Inc., in the amount of $10.8 million for the Seepage Management Test facility (Pilot Test). Two contracts were awarded to Thalle Construction Co., Inc., one in the amount of $31.8 million for the replacement of Structure S-281 (C-5A) & S-282 (C-5) and the other in the amount of $36.3 million for the replacement of Structure S-273 (C-10) & S-275 (C-12).
“We continue to make excellent progress rehabilitating Herbert Hoover Dike. We have awarded contracts to address half of the 32 structures around the dike that are seen as the greatest points of potential failure,” said Col. Alan Dodd, district commander.
In 2011, the Corps began to replace or remove 32 federally owned water control structures around the dike. With this contract, the Corps has taken action to address 16 of the structures.
In fiscal year 2013, Jacksonville District exceeded all expectations by entering contracts for dredging and beach nourishment projects in Florida. They were valued in excess of $134 million for emergency repair of damages brought about by Hurricane Sandy.
Contracting Division plays an intricate role in moving district projects forward. “Work would come to a grinding halt without their expertise, dedication and commitment,” Dodd said.