As its massive Iraq reconstruction program gears up, the Pentagon Program Management Office announced the award of four new design—build prime construction contracts on March 23 valued at $1.5 billion.

A joint venture of Fluor/AMEC LLC, Greenville, S.C., received two contracts, one with a ceiling of $600 million and the other $500 million. The work will cover the rehabilitation of existing water sector facilities and construction of new projects including potable water distribution and treatment systems, municipal sewer collection and treatment systems and solid waste management systems throughout the country.

A $325-million contract was awarded to Contrack/AICI/OCI/Archirodon Joint Venture, Arlington, Va., to repair and construct projects in the transportation sector. The work will include aviation facilities, ports, highways, bridges and railroads. Lucent Technologies World Services Inc., Whippany, N.J., won a contract worth $75 million to repair and modernize the existing communications system.

Separately, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, through its Transatlantic Programs Center, awarded a construction management contract March 19 to Stanley Baker Hill Joint Venture, Muscatine, Iowa. The ID/IQ contract to assist the PMO with reconstruction in Iraq has a maximum value of $1.2 billion over five years. Task orders will cover a range of infrastructure projects throughout the country. The base term of the award is one year with four additional one-year options. The guaranteed minimum is $500,000 per year with a maximum of up to $300 million in the base year and first option year. Subsequent years carry a ceiling of $200 million. The first task orders are expected to be issued within the next two weeks, says program executive James Hollatz. The joint venture is comprised of Stanley Consultants Inc., Michael Baker Jr. Inc., and Hill International Inc.