Contractor picked for $3.3 billion Hampton Roads project

A joint-venture has won the contract for the largest construction project in the Virginia Department of Transportation’s history.

Hampton Roads Connector Partners beat out two other bidders for the $3.3 billion design-build contract for the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel Expansion Project, Gov. Ralph Northam’s office announced on Friday. The contract is planned to be awarded in April.

New York-based Dragados USA is the lead contractor for Hampton Roads Connector Partners. The joint venture includes Nebraska-based HDR and England-based Mott MacDonald as the lead designers. Hampton Roads Connector Partners also includes Colorado-based Flatiron Constructors, France-based Vinci Construction and Dodin Campenon Bernard, a construction company that’s also based in France.

The Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel Expansion will add new, two-lane tunnels and widen the four-lane sections of Interstate 64 in Hampton between Settlers Landing Road and the Phoebus shoreline. It will widen the four-lane section of I-64 in Norfolk between the Willoughby shoreline and the I-564 interchange. Plans call for it to be completed November 1, 2025. 

VDOT has said it plans to buy two parcels of property on Willoughby Spit to use for construction staging. The developer, WeldenField Development, who owns those parcels through affiliates has said it plans to develop condos there. A VDOT spokesman said on Friday he did not have any updates on VDOT’s plans. A lawyer for WeldenField did not immediately return a request for comment.

Friday’s announcement comes after a year-long competitive process that began in Decemeber 2017 with three qualified design-build teams, Northam’s office said. Two teams submitted comprehensive technical proposals and price bids before Hampton Roads Connector Partners was selected.

Northam’s office said the winning bid was picked based on the bid price and technical score. The details of the best value evaluation will be presented to the Commonwealth Transportation Board and the Hampton Roads Transportation Accountability Commission (HRTAC) at their different meetings in March.

The Hampton Roads Transportation Accountability Commission is the primary source of funding for the project. Applications for state and federal financial support are in the works. The Virginia Department of Transportation is funding the replacement of bridge trestles on the Norfolk side.