Prime contractor, designer chosen for mammoth Uinta Basin Railway project

The U.S. DOT is releasing over $1.4 billion in CRISI funding.

Rio Grande Pacific Corporation (RGPC) has appointed firms for the final engineering and construction of the Uinta Basin Railway project in Utah.

RGPC carried out the process through its Rio Grande Pacific Group portfolio company Basin Railway Constructors (BRC).

The 136.7-km-long railway is being developed to deliver a common-carrier railway service to the Uinta Basin region in northeastern Utah.

RGPC freight railroads consist of Nebraska Central Railroad, a 340-mile network in east-central Nebraska.

AECOM has been selected for the delivery of the final design of the railway, while the Skanska-WW Clyde Joint Venture (JV) has been chosen for the construction of the railway. The scope of work of both AECOM and the Skanska JV is exclusive of the railway’s tunnels.

Obayashi has been tasked with carrying out the final design and construction of these tunnels.

RGPC Chairman and CEO Richard Bertel said: “We are pleased to award engineering and construction of the Uinta Basin Railway project to AECOM, Skanska-Clyde, and Obayashi. “Numerous qualified and technically proficient engineering and construction firms, including most of the major firms in the U.S., pursued the Uinta Basin Railway project, and provided us high-quality and creative responses. AECOM, Skanska-Clyde, and Obayashi provided the best fit to our project objectives of the firms we interviewed.”

Last year, the U.S. Surface Transportation Board approved the operation and construction of the project, which will meet the needs of the region’s agricultural, construction, mineral, energy, and manufacturing industries.

In 2018, the state of Utah’s political subdivision Seven County Infrastructure Coalition started the project, with the Ute Indian Tribe of the Uintah and Ouray Reservation being the railway’s equity partner.

Read more articles on track construction.