Texas & Southeast Pulse: February 2025
Contracts, Bids, Proposals
North Carolina
East Carolina University is preparing to start construction on the Brody School of Medicine, a new medical education building in Greenville. Work is expected to start March 1 on the construction manager at-risk project valued at $265 million. The project includes a five-story, 198,000-sq-ft building, four-level parking deck, central utility plant and extensive site infrastructure work. It is scheduled for an August 2027 completion. Smithgroup is the contractor, Hammel, Green & Abrahamson Inc. is project architect, with TA Loving Co., Barnhill Contracting Co. and Metcon Inc. listed as construction managers. East Carolina University, 1001 E 4th St., Greenville, 27858. DR#22-00477324.
Texas
The Texas Dept. of Transportation is in the planning phase of a $1.8-billion rebuild of Interstate 35 from Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard to Holly Street in Austin. Plans are in the early design phase, with a target bid date of July 1, 2026. The design-bid-build project includes the reconstruction of I-35 with the addition of two northbound and two southbound non-tolled lanes, the addition of northbound and southbound frontage roads between MLK Boulevard and 15th Street and one southbound frontage road between 8th Street and 5th Street. Texas Dept. of Transportation – Austin District, 7901 N Interstate 35, Austin, 78753. DR#24-00175256.
Florida
The Florida Dept. of Transportation is planning a $1.5-billion extension for the Poinciana Parkway in Poinciana. A four-year construction period is set to begin in July 2027. The environmental assessment has been completed for the project, which will extend the parkway from County Road 532 to the Interstate 4/State Road 429 interchange, including modifying the interchange and increasing capacity of that segment of the interstate to accommodate the Poinciana Parkway connection. The total project length is 4.97 miles. The parkway is a section of a future six-lane limited access toll facility, the Southern Beltway, which will connect I-4 on the west to the interchange of Boggy Creek Road/State Road 417 on the east, a distance of roughly 50 miles. GAI Consultants is project engineer. Florida Dept. of Transportation-Florida Turnpike, 263 Mile Post, Ocoee, 34761. DR#20-00572526.
Oklahoma
Woodside Energy is planning to begin construction in February on the $362-million H2OK Green Hydrogen Production facility, an initial 290-MW facility that will use electrolysis to produce up to 90 tons per day of liquid hydrogen for the heavy transport sector. The location, in Ardmore, offers the capacity for expansion up to 550 MW and 180 tons per day of liquid hydrogen. Air Liquide USA and Nel Hydrogen – USA East are listed as project contractors, with KBR as engineer. A possible first-quarter 2025 project start is scheduled, with the project awaiting final rules for IRS Section 45V, presales and the owner’s final investment decision. Completion is expected in 2026. Woodside Energy, 240 St. George’s Terrace, Perth, Australia, 6000. DR#22-00559597.
Louisiana
The Carlyle Group and Crescent Midstream are in the planning stages of the $1-billion Lake Charles Power Station Carbon Capture and Storage project, aiming for a July 2026 start to a two-year construction period. The project, with Samsung Engineering America Inc. and Honeywell UOP Houston as engineers, will construct an integrated CCS facility in Lake Charles that is capable of capturing, transporting and permanently storying carbon dioxide emitted from an Entergy Louisiana-owned natural gas-fueled power plant. It is expected to capture up to 3 million tons of carbon dioxide per year that would otherwise be emitted on the Louisiana Gulf Coast. The Carlyle Group, 1001 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Washington, D.C., 20004. DR#24-00406597.
