SNC Lavalin, partners picked as preferred bidder for $1.4-billion B.C. transit line
by Ross Marowits, THE CANADIAN PRESS
Construction of Evergreen Line expected to create 8,000 direct, indirect jobs
MONTREAL—SNC-Lavalin received renewed signs of confidence in its operations after being selected as the preferred bidder for a $1.4-billion B.C. transit project.
A consortium headed by the Montreal-based engineering and construction giant has been tabbed by the B.C. government to design and build the Evergreen Line Rapid Transit project.
The project, which will integrate into the existing SkyTrain system, will link the cities of Burnaby, Port Moody and Coquitlam with an 11-kilometre advanced light rapid transit line.
SNC-Lavalin’s partners include several businesses, including Graham Building Services, MMM Group Ltd., International Bridge Technologies Inc. and Jacobs Associates Canada Corp.
The project includes elevated and at-grade guideways, a two-kilometre bored tunnel, seven stations, power substations, train operating systems, parking facilities and a vehicle storage and light maintenance facility.
It will link directly to the Millennium Line, with connections to the Expo Line, Canada Line, the West Coast Express and regional bus networks.
The B.C. government is contributing $583-million and will also oversee construction of the project.
The federal government will provide up to $417-million.
TransLink will contribute $400-million and operate the line when it is complete.
Construction of the Evergreen Line is expected to create 8,000 direct and indirect jobs.
Major construction will begin in the late fall once the contract is signed and is slated to open for service in the summer of 2016.
SNC-Lavalin has experience building B.C.’s transit network after heading up construction of the Canada Line rapid transit system that links downtown Vancouver with Vancouver International Airport in Richmond.
It has a 33.3 per cent equity participation in InTransit BC, which will operate and maintain the Canada Line under a 35-year concession agreement.
Spokeswoman Leslie Quinton said SNC is proud to have won this mandate, which is “a natural extension” of its earlier successes in the province.
“We are grateful to our client for their confidence and the opportunity to serve them again, and we are committed to delivering to them and their customers a first class transportation experience,” she said in an email.
The SNC partnership bid against two other joint ventures—A. EL Partners, which includes Bombardier Transportation,and Genivar and Kiewit/Flatiron Evergreen Line.
The engineering and construction giant’s new CEO Robert Card started on the job this week amid reports that about $22.5-million of the $56-million in questionable payments to undisclosed foreign agents was used to win the Montreal super hospital project.
Former CEO Pierre Duhaime stepped down in March amid the controversy over the payments, which breached the company’s code of ethics.
