Holmes & Narver Gets $400 Million Federal Contract

Holmes & Narver Inc., an Orange-based engineering firm, has received a five-year contract, with an estimated value of $400 million, to assist the U.S. Department of Energy at its Nevada test site and other atomic testing areas in the Pacific, the company announced Monday.

The contract requires Holmes & Narver, a subsidiary of Ashland Oil Inc. of Ashland, Ky., to provide engineering, architectural, construction, communication and other services. The company has provided those services to the energy department and its predecessor, the Atomic Energy Commission, since 1956 in Nevada and since 1951 in the Pacific.

Holmes & Narver said the fees will be negotiated each year during the five-year contract period. The company’s total contract employee force is 915, with 562 in Nevada and 353 in the Pacific areas.