UPDATE – Infrastructure and Energy Alternatives, Inc. Enters Into $550 Million Joint Venture With F.H. Paschen For the West Lake Corridor Rail Expansion in Indiana
Infrastructure and Energy Alternatives Inc.
6 min read
INDIANAPOLIS, Nov. 02, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Infrastructure and Energy Alternatives, Inc. (NASDAQ: IEA) (“IEA” or the “Company”), a leading infrastructure construction company with renewable energy and specialty civil expertise, today announced a joint venture with F.H. Paschen for the West Lake Corridor rail expansion awarded by the Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District (NICTD) and valued at over $550 million. The contract was secured by Ragnar Benson, a subsidiary of IEA that provides heavy- and light-rail construction, and F.H. Paschen, a general contractor and construction manager with over 110 years of experience in the construction industry. Ragnar Benson owns an approximate 30 percent interest in the joint venture.
F.H. Paschen and Ragnar Benson together serve as the design build construction team for the West Lake Corridor project, which will provide a vital transportation link that connects Northwest Indiana to Chicago and Cook County, Illinois. The project includes the construction of an eight-mile single-track branch extension of the existing South Shore rail line and four additional rail stations to reach high-growth areas in Lake County, Indiana. In addition, the joint venture team will construct a maintenance and storage facility with a layover yard and three traction power substations to power the overhead contact system.
Work commenced on the project in October 2020 with an anticipated completion date in October 2024. The rail extension was designed with a focus on sustainability and wetland mitigation. The construction will incorporate best practices to protect the environment while at the same time expand NICTD’s service coverage, improve mobility and accessibility to the region and stimulate local job creation and economic development opportunities for Lake County.
“After an extensive design/build procurement, the F.H. Paschen Ragnar Benson Joint Venture was determined to be the best value proposer for the project. Through spending extensive time with their team, we have a high degree of confidence that they will be a true partner to complete this project on-time and within budget,” said Mike Noland, NICTD’S President.
Chris Beck, NICTD’s Project Manager for the West Lake Corridor project, said “NICTD is excited to be working with the F.H. Paschen Ragnar Benson Joint Venture team to build this monumental project, which is so important to residents of Indiana. Designing and building a commuter railroad involves many complicated civil and electrical aspects, and we are confident that together the team will be very successful.”
F.H. Paschen is an industry leader in infrastructure construction, rehabilitation, renovation and repair work for the public and private sectors. The company is known for its abilities to provide customers with alternative delivery services, such as Design-Build Construction, Job Order Contracting and Construction Manager at Risk. F.H. Paschen has extensive construction experience in heavy civil transportation (including major highways, bridges, and mass transit systems), public works projects, municipal buildings, commercial properties and private institutions.
“We are excited to move forward on the West Lake Corridor project,” said Jim Blair, F.H. Paschen’s President. “We look forward to partnering with NICTD, Ragnar Benson and local businesses throughout the project and for many years to come.”
Adding to F.H. Paschen’s comments, Brian Hummer, IEA’s Executive Vice President, noted, “Through this important contract, IEA continues to strengthen our position in the rail construction market. We are honored to partner with F.H. Paschen in our home state of Indiana to provide faster and more economical access to Chicago. Our Ragnar Benson team brings the experience, resources, and the capacity to deliver a successful project that will strengthen the connection between Chicago and Northwest Indiana while bringing additional economic opportunity to the region.”
IEA was recently ranked 16th for mass transit and rail and 38th for transportation amongst Engineering News-Record’s 2020 Top 400 Contractors. For more information on these rankings, please visit enr.com.
About IEA
Infrastructure and Energy Alternatives, Inc. is a leading infrastructure construction company with renewable energy and specialty civil expertise. Headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana, with operations throughout the country, IEA’s service offering spans the entire construction process. The Company offers a full spectrum of delivery models including full engineering, procurement, and construction, turnkey, design-build, balance of plant and subcontracting services. IEA is one of the larger providers in the renewable energy industry and has completed more than 200 utility scale wind and solar projects across North America. In the heavy-civil space, IEA offers a number of specialty services including environmental remediation, industrial maintenance, specialty transportation infrastructure and other site development for public and private projects. For more information, please visit IEA’s website at www.iea.net or follow IEA on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter for the latest company news and events.
About Ragnar Benson
Ragnar Benson Construction, an IEA company, is a general contractor specializing in civil and commercial construction. Based in Rockford, Illinois, the company self-performs and supervises a wide range of rail infrastructure construction, building construction and environmental management projects for the private and public sectors.
About F.H. Paschen
F.H. Paschen has over 110 years of experience in the construction industry, serving both public and private customers and clients across the country. They have a long-standing commitment to building strong relationships with diverse businesses and engaging the communities we serve. F.H. Paschen is an equal opportunity employer.
About NICTD
The Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District (NICTD) operates the South Shore Line train with service from Millennium Station in Chicago to the South Bend International Airport in South Bend, IN. NICTD is governed by a Board of Trustees representing the four Indiana counties served by the South Shore Line.
Forward Looking Statements
This release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The use of words such as “anticipate,” “expect,” “could,” “may,” “intend,” “plan” and “believe,” among others, generally identify forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are based on currently available operating, financial, economic and other information, and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties. Readers are cautioned that these forward-looking statements are only predictions and may differ materially from actual future events or results. A variety of factors, many of which are beyond our control, could cause actual future results or events to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements in this release. For a full description of the risks and uncertainties which could cause actual results to differ from our forward-looking statements, please refer to IEA’s periodic filings with the Securities & Exchange Commission including those described as “Risk Factors” in IEA’s annual report on Form 10-K filed on March 12, 2020. IEA does not undertake any obligation to update forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as may be required under applicable securities laws.
