The board of the North Texas Tollway Authority has hired Prairie Link Constructors LLC, a team composed of Fluor EPCM Services, Irving, Texas, and Balfour Beatty Infrastructure Inc., Atlanta, to build Phase 4 of state Highway 161 in the agency’s first design-build contract, worth $414 million. The winning effort was 32% lower than the authority’s original $610-million estimate for the project. Prairie Link Constructors also includes the Fort Worth office of AECOM Technology Corp. as designer, Richardson, Texas-based Halff Associates for drainage design, and PSI, Oakbrook Terrace, Ill., to handle independent quality assurance and control. The phase includes 6.5 miles of a new four-lane road with two major interchanges, says authority spokeswoman Susan Slupecki. The project is set for completion by September 2012.