Tutor Perini Lands $1.66B Skyline Contract
Written by Marybeth Luczak, Executive Editor, Railway Age
(Photograph Courtesy of HART)
HONOLULU – HART on Aug. 15 reported awarding Tutor Perini Corporation a $1.66 billion contract for design and construction of the third phase of Skyline, an urban rail transit GoA4 (Grade of Automation) system whose first phase opened in 2023. It is expected to be executed in mid-September. Parsons Corporation will serve as design subcontractor.
The City Center Guideway and Stations contract includes the design and construction of six stations and approximately three miles of elevated rail guideway beginning just east of the Middle Street Transit Center Station and ending at the Civic Center Station, which will be located just east of the intersection of Halekauwila Street and South Street (see map below). According to HART (Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation), project design will begin immediately after contract execution. Construction is estimated to start in second-half 2025 and wrap up in 2030.
The contract award, HART said, is expected to trigger the release of the next $250 million in federal funding to HART under the amended Full Funding Grant Agreement (FFGA), which was executed in February 2024 with the Federal Transit Administration. The original FFGA, signed in 2012, provided a grant of $1.55 billion for the Skyline project. HART has previously received approximately $931 million under this grant.
Los Angeles, Calif.-based “Tutor Perini was the only bidder, and the company’s $1.66 billion proposal will cost $300 million more than the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation had budgeted in its 2022 recovery plan, according to HART [Executive Director and] CEO Lori Kahikina,” Honolulu Civil Beat reported Aug. 15. “But Kahikina said … rail officials are confident the rail authority can find the money to cover the difference. That can be done by dipping into contingency funding that is being held in reserve for unexpected costs, or by finding cost savings in other contracts, she said. The extra cost may cause HART to increase its total estimated cost of construction, but HART needs to discuss that possibility with the Federal Transit Administration first, she said.”
The City Center Builders Joint Venture, comprising Hawaiian Dredging Construction Co. and Dragados Construction USA Inc., was also prequalified to bid for the City Center Guideway and Stations contract, but dropped out, according to the media outlet.
“This is another huge milestone for our rail project,” Lori Kahikina said during HART’s contract award announcement. “This is the largest single contract of the entire project and sets the course for completing the project through downtown Honolulu. We are excited to begin work with Tutor Perini to make this happen.”
“Tutor Perini is proud and excited to be a part of this transformational project in Honolulu,” Tutor Perini Corporation Chairman and CEO Ronald N. Tutor said during the announcement. “We look forward to partnering with HART to see this project through to its successful conclusion.”
Hitachi Rail in 2023 delivered the first 11 miles of “light metro” service to HART and the City and County of Honolulu Department of Transportation Services (DTS) under a 12-year DBOM (design-build-operate-maintain) contract. (HART and DTS maintain the civil works portion.) That segment includes nine stations from East Kapolei to Aloha Stadium.
Work on Skyline’s second phase is under way. Expected to be operational in late 2025, it will add 5.2 miles and four stations from Aloha Stadium to Middle Street-Kalihi Transit Center, incorporating Daniel K. Inouye International Airport. On June 17, 2024, the third rail was “energized,” according to HART, allowing for train testing.
