Balfour Beatty wins $746 million Texas interstate project

A render of the new Interstate 35 in Austin, Texas, including a pedestrian footbridge. Image courtesy Balfour Beatty

The scope of work includes expanding the route to eight traffic lanes, constructing a new intersection, and implementing a number of access road improvements to streamline traffic flow and enhance connectivity.

As part of the infrastructure upgrade, a new bridge across Lady Bird Lake will replace the current structure, which was built in 1956. The bridge construction will involve complex marine engineering and will be carried out from a barge due to its location over water.

The development will also feature a bridge and intersection, intended to support a planned light rail network and strengthen public transportation options in central Texas.

The initiative is part of the broader I-35 Capital Express Central project, which aims to improve capacity and connectivity for the over 200,000 vehicles a day that use the route.

Construction on the project will start early next year, with completion expected by 2033.

Leo Quinn, Balfour Beatty Group chief executive officer, highlighted his company’s 30-year relationship with the Texas DOT and said Balfour Beatty’s selective bidding approach “ensures that we leverage our strengths to work with long-term customers in the geographies in which we have proven expertise, strong teams and trusted supply chain partners”.

In its statement, the company said it expects more than 150 people to be directly employed on the Interstate 35 project during peak construction phases.

Render of the new Interstate 35 including pedestrian footbridge through Austin in Texas