Tuesday, September 1, 2009

AMEC, the international engineering and project management company, announces today that it is among six firms selected to perform professional services related to dam safety assessment, design, design review, and construction management.

The combined maximum total for all six awardees is US$60 million, with projects to be funded as least in part through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA). Including options, the contract will run five years and involve projects within the 48 contiguous states plus Alaska. The contract is with the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS).

"This win is a reflection of our extensive dam-safety capabilities and experience that includes projects in the Southwest with flood-control structures, in the East for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and in the Midwest involving dams and levees," remarked Brett Howey, project administrator and engineer with AMEC's Earth and Environmental division.

The NRCS is responsible for providing technical assistance to entities of state and local governmental and tribes for planning and installing watershed projects under the Watershed Protection and Flood Prevention Act. Another major program is the Emergency Watershed Protection Program, which undertakes emergency measures for runoff control and soil erosion prevention to safeguard lives and property.

At least 300 and as many as 800 dam assessments are anticipated, with the work involving such elements as breach inundation mapping, failure and risk index computations, and the identification of rehabilitation alternatives. Design tasks may involve anything from engineering investigations to the development of rehabilitation construction plans and specifications. The work may involve structural, civil, geotechnical, hydraulic and environmental engineering, as well as construction management.

Due to the ARRA stimulus funding, consultants must be ready to begin performance within 10 calendar days of the contract award. Consultants must provide a quick turnaround on proposals for task orders, and must complete typical dam assessments within six months and typical design reviews within six weeks, with as many as 20 simultaneous task orders.

The other contract awardees were Gannett Fleming, HDR, Kleinfelder, URS, and Black & Veatch.

Notes to editors:

AMEC (LSE: AMEC) is a focused supplier of high-value consultancy, engineering and project management services to the world's energy, power and process industries. With annual revenues of over US$4.3 billion, AMEC designs, delivers and maintains strategic and complex assets for its customers. AMEC's Natural Resources, Power and Process and Earth and Environmental businesses employ over 21,000 people in more than 30 countries globally. For further information please see http://www.amec.com/

AMEC's Earth and Environmental division operates from 150 offices in the U.S., Canada and abroad. The business provides a broad range of environmental, geotechnical, water resources, infrastructure, materials testing, and project management services to public and private clients.

The Natural Resources Conservation Service, originally called the Soil Conservation Service, since 1935 has provided leadership in a partnership effort to help America's private land owners and managers conserve their soil, water, and other natural resources. www.nrcs.usda.gov