(WXYZ) — An Ohio company has received another multi-hundred-million-dollar contract for the new Soo Locks project in Sault Ste. Marie.
According to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Kokosing Alberici Traylor, LLC (KAT) from Westerville, Ohio, got the $222.7 million contract for what's called "Option 3."
Option 3, according to officials, includes construction of the lock floor, installation of the mechanical and electrical systems, completion of the filling and emptying system, placing soil between the new lock and old David lock, and commissioning of the lock chamber.
Because the contract was awarded on time, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said the project is still on track to be completed in 2030.
The new Poe-sized Lock is set to handle the largest freighters on the Great Lakes – 1,000-footers – as there is only one lock capable of raising and lowering them now.
The lock is being built in three phases. Phase one – upstream channel deepening – was completed in 2022. Phase two – upstream approach walls – is set to be completed this summer.
Then, the phase three contract was awarded to KAT in July 2022 at $1.068 billion, with more contract options to be awarded over the next three years.
“To date, Options 1A (Upstream Wide Wall Monoliths), 1B (Chamber Wall Monoliths), 1C (New Power Plant Bridge Ramp), 2 (New Pump Well Completion) and 7 (Alligator’s Mouth Mooring Area) have been awarded, totaling $503.7 million,” District Senior Civilian Kevin McDaniels said in a statement. “The leadership team throughout the Corps of Engineers have made the New Lock at the Soo project a national priority and we have continued to see strong support every step along the way.”
The contract options yet to be awarded include contracts for downstream work, hands-free mooring and downstream ship arrestors. It's expected those contracts will be awarded in the next year.
The final phase of construction began in late 2022 and is expected to last seven years with efficient funding and favorable weather.
“The contractor has completed over $400 million worth of work through the end of July 2024,” said New Lock at the Soo Senior Project Manager Mollie Mahoney. “The contractor is demolishing existing concrete monoliths and beginning bedrock excavation in the footprint of the existing Sabin Lock. In the Davis Lock they are beginning excavating for the New Pump Well and preparing to fill the Davis Lock with excavated material. The contractor is also constructing a new bridge to the New Power Plant and a new utility access structure.”
In 2022, President Joe Biden's bipartisan infrastructure bill gave $479 million to finish the new lock at the Soo Lock. At the time, that funding from the bill made it where the new lock was fully-funded at a cost of $1.3 billion.
