Grand openings of high-profile projects in the UK and the United States highlighted another busy year for Bechtel’s Civil Infrastructure business unit.
In November, Queen Elizabeth II officially launched High Speed 1, the UK’s first high-speed rail line. Built by a Bechtel consortium, it runs from the Channel Tunnel to the newly restored St. Pancras International station in London and carries Eurostar trains at speeds up to 300 kilometers per hour.
Earlier in the year, commuters just south of Seattle, Washington, celebrated the opening of the new Tacoma Narrows Bridge. The longest new U.S. suspension span in four decades, it was designed and built by a Bechtel joint venture.
Also in the United States, design is under way for an extension of Washington, D.C.-area rail service to Dulles International Airport.
Two other major rail projects in the UK continued on track in 2007. A Bechtel consortium renovating three lines of the London Underground unveiled an award-winning safety device for confirming that the electric current on rails has been turned off. Meanwhile, the Bechtel-led modernization of the busy West Coast Main Line headed for on-time completion at the end of 2008.
In Eastern Europe, construction progressed on two new roads we are building, the 415-kilometer Autostrada Transilvania in Romania and a 60-kilometer motorway in Albania that will include a 5.3-kilometer twin-bore tunnel through a mountainous region.
In the Middle East, Qatar’s ambitious New Doha International Airport is taking shape, and we won a contract to manage construction of a new high-rise tower in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
