Skanska-Led P3 Team Wins Florida I-4 Job

Map courtesy Fla. Dept. of Transportation

In addition to the rebuilding of general-use lanes, the 21-mile-long project includes reconstruction of 15 major interchanges, construction of roughly 140 bridges and the addition of four variable-priced toll lanes.

A concessionaire headed by Skanska Infrastructure Development will lead the Florida Dept. of Transportation's largest public-private partnership project to date: the $2.3-billion rebuild of Orlando's Interstate 4.

A joint venture of Skanska USA Civil Southeast, Granite Construction and Lane Construction will lead construction. HDR Engineering and Jacobs Engineering Group comprise the joint-venture lead engineer. The P3 project, which will add two tolled lanes in each direction for the length of the 21-mile-long corridor, also covers design, build, finance, operations and maintenance.

FDOT announced the award in April and expects to finalize a 40-year concession agreement and officially award the contract later this summer. The agency says the concessionaire will earn availability payments for keeping the facility open and adequately maintained. Infrastructure Corp of America is the proposer team's lead for operations and maintenance.

The P3 team's financial proposal includes $105 million in equity provided by Skanska Infrastructure Development and John Laing Investments Ltd., along with a $950-million TIFIA loan and $487 million in bank debt, says FDOT.

In addition to the rebuilding of general-use lanes, the project includes reconstruction of 15 major interchanges, construction of approximately 140 bridges and the addition of four variable-priced toll lanes, from west of Kirkman Road to east of state Road 434.

While FDOT previously shortlisted four groups for consideration, only the Skanska group and a team featuring Fluor Enterprises and Kiewit Infrastructure South met the agency's financial criteria to be considered as finalists.

According to FDOT, the Skanska team earned higher scores for both schedule and cost criteria. The Skanska-led group estimated cost at just over $2.3 billion, with a schedule of 2,310 calendar days. Meanwhile, the Fluor/Kiewit team provided an estimated cost of $2.53 billion, with a schedule of 2,442 calendar days.

The department also noted that the Skanska team, called I-4 Mobility Partners, provided additional technical enhancements in its proposal, including direct connections from I-4 express lanes to state Road 408, additional auxiliary lanes and enhanced aesthetics. The agency expects construction to begin in 2015, with completion by 2021.

5/5/14 - This article was updated with new details about the project's financing, cost and schedule provided by FDOT.

Scott Judy is Deputy Editor for Regions, and editor of ENR Southeast, one of Engineering News-Record's 10 Regional publications. His roughly 27 years as a construction journalist began with an 11-year stint covering Midwest construction projects. In 2000, Judy helped launch the publication now known as ENR Southeast. He often delves into controversial aspects of the construction industry such as bankruptcies and fatal accidents, and wishes he would never have to cover another accident but suspects that he might.

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