The US Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command has awarded a five-year contract to a joint venture comprising Stantec and AECOM valued at $150 million. The agreement is for multidisciplinary architect-engineer and consulting services intended to support the shipyard infrastructure optimisation program of the United States Navy.
This work will specifically focus on the modernisation of the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard located in Kittery, Maine. The shipyard infrastructure optimisation program is currently upgrading facilities at all four public naval shipyards in the United States.
These include the Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard and intermediate maintenance facility in Hawaii, the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and intermediate maintenance facility in Washington, the Norfolk Naval Shipyard in Virginia, and the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard.
The US Navy stated that these shipyards were originally designed and constructed in the 19th and 20th centuries. The program is described by the navy as a long-term recapitalisation effort aimed at delivering integrated investments in infrastructure and industrial plant equipment.
The initiative is intended to expand capacity and optimise configurations to meet fleet maintenance requirements. According to the navy, recapitalising the century-old infrastructure will increase maintenance throughput and improve the quality of service for 37,000 shipyard employees.
Chris Williams, Senior Vice President, US Federal Programs at Stantec stated that the company is looking forward to applying its technical expertise to help modernise shipyard infrastructure in support of fleet readiness.
AECOM remarked that it recently completed the area development plan for the Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard and intermediate maintenance facility.