Rio Grande Pacific Corporation announce Uinta Basin Railway Project firms

Rio Grande Pacific Corporation (RGPC) through its Rio Grande Pacific Group portfolio company Basin Railway Constructors, LLC (BRC) have announced that it has selected the engineering and construction firms for the final engineering and construction of the Uinta Basin Railway, the 85-mile-long common-carrier railway that will provide the first-ever common-carrier railway service to North East Utah’s Uinta Basin region.

Construction and operation of the Uinta Basin Railway project was authorised by the U.S. Surface Transportation Board in December 2021. The railway will serve mineral, energy, agricultural, construction, and manufacturing industries in the Uinta Basin. The railway project was initiated by the Seven County Infrastructure Coalition, a political subdivision of the State of Utah, in 2018.

The Ute Indian Tribe of the Uintah and Ouray Reservation is an equity partner in the railway. Engineering and Construction firms that were selected are AECOM, who will deliver final design of the railway exclusive of it tunnels, Skanska-WW Clyde Joint Venture, who will deliver construction of the railway exclusive of its tunnels, and the Obayashi Corporation, who will deliver final design and construction of the railway’s tunnels.

 “We are pleased to award engineering and construction of the Uinta Basin Railway project to AECOM, Skanska-Clyde, and Obayashi,” Richard Bertel, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer for RGPC, said. “Numerous qualified and technically proficient engineering and construction firms, including most of the major firms in the U.S., pursued the Uinta Basin Railway project, and provided to us high-quality and creative responses. AECOM, Skanska-Clyde, and Obayashi provided the best fit to our project objectives of the firms we interviewed.”

 “WW Clyde since 1926 has been known as a premier heavy civil contractor in Utah and the Intermountain West,” Garrett McMullin, Area Manager for WW Clyde, said. “We’re thrilled to be chosen for the largest new railroad construction project in the U.S. since the 1970s. We’re excited to be a part of creating new jobs and economic opportunities for rural Utah.”

A key selection criterion for RGPC was the commitment of AECOM, Skanska-Clyde, and Obayashi to a tribal and local hiring preference, and to include within their teams to the greatest degree practical the construction and engineering firms located within the Uinta Basin and the counties of the Seven County Infrastructure Coalition.