The Foothill Gold Line Construction Authority has been recognized for the successful completion of the Foothill Gold Line light rail project from Pasadena to Azusa with a Project Achievement Award for design-build projects worth more than $100 million by the Construction Management Association of America’s Southern California Chapter. The award follows the on-time, on-budget completion of the nearly $1 billion, 11.5-mile, six-station light rail extension in September.
"We are very proud of our record of success and it is always nice to be recognized," stated Construction Authority Board Chairman, Doug Tessitor. “It is unusual for a billion dollar public infrastructure project to come in on time and on budget, and we believe that using the design-build process and hiring three excellent design-build teams were central to that success."
The construction authority used three design-build teams over the course of the five-year project; each completed their contract on time and on budget. The largest contract was the alignment design-build contract, completed by Foothill Transit Constructors - a Kiewit-Parsons Joint Venture. It included design and construction of all elements of the light rail project - track installation and relocation, stations, operations campus, bridges, at-grade crossings, power and systems elements, etc. - with the exception of the Gold Line Bridge over the I-210 Freeway and five intermodal parking facilities (each completed on time and on budget by Skanska USA and Webcor teams, respectively).
“I believe the construction authority’s design-build process should be a model for other agencies,” added Tessitor. “We were able to manage the needs of three design-build teams, five different cities, and many other third-party agencies using design-build because the process allows for flexibility and is able to adjust quickly to new information and constituents’ needs."
