Amtrak has selected a joint venture of Kiewit and J.F. Shea Construction Inc. to build its planned Frederick Douglass Tunnel in Baltimore. 

The contract, which the passenger rail carrier announced Feb. 6,  is valued at more than $1 billion, an Amtrak spokesperson says. It is the second of three major contracts for the railroad's $6-billion program to replace the 150-year-old tunnel.