Bechtel Wins Another Iraq Deal
Bechtel Corp. won a $1.8-billion government contract Tuesday for work in Iraq, marking the San Francisco firm’s second reconstruction pact in the war-torn country in the last year.
Under the latest contract, the privately owned engineering and construction company will make further improvements and repairs to Iraq’s airport, power, water, sewage, school, government and Umm Qasr port facilities, according to the United States Agency for International Development. A senior official with that agency said Bechtel was chosen over two rival bids “under full and open competition procedures.”
Bechtel said its team on the two-year project would begin work this month and include Parsons Corp. of Pasadena and Horne Engineering Services of Fairfax, Va. Parsons will focus on water and sanitation, while Horne Engineering will act as equipment purchaser, according to Bechtel.
In April, Bechtel won a contract worth as much as $680 million over 18 months ending in December 2004. In October, that funding was boosted by $350 million, to $1.03 billion, to pay for additional water and power work.
A Bechtel spokesman said the contract awarded in April covered the costs of assessing infrastructure needs and making emergency repairs to vital facilities, whereas the new contract targeted similar but different facilities and included engineering, procurement and construction.
The Bechtel contract was awarded as the Pentagon earmarked $18.4 billion in Iraq reconstruction funds approved by Congress. The Pentagon initially hoped to award the entire sum by next month, a goal that has proved unrealistic.
The U.S.-led Coalition Provisional Authority on Tuesday sent out requests for bids for 17 other contracts worth $5 billion. The development agency plans to award an additional $4 billion in construction and oil pipeline rebuilding work soon.
About $6 billion more will go for non-construction contracts such as police training and military equipment. The nearly $4 billion in remaining earmarked money is being held back for future spending “so that we can identify the need for changes in budget priorities,” Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said.
The target date for awarding the 17 contracts worth $5 billion is March 12, but that date is just an estimate, Whitman said.
Douglass reported from California and Hendren from Washington.
