Digging tunnels, design-build delivery and diversity—Louis P. Brais, project executive for Bouygues Construction, is drawn to all three. And his expertise in these areas proved crucial to the successful construction of what many thought was impossible: excavating through eight different layers of geology to build the $1-billion Port of Miami Tunnel on time and budget.
The project to build a pair of 4,200-ft-long highway tunnels under Biscayne Bay will take trucks off local streets and directly to and from the Port of Miami. It features the first-ever American use of availability payments for a public-private partnership and marks Bouygues' first venture into the U.S.—with a lot of other firsts as well.