A leading Spanish systems integrator and infrastructure technology company has been awarded a four-part contract on part of the Florida Department of Transportation’s (FDOT) I-95 Express Lanes project.
SICE, part of Spanish civil engineering and construction giant Grupo ACS, will deploy the intelligent transportation system (ITS), lighting, signalization and signing for FDOT’s I-95 Phase 3A-2 Project in Miami.
The contract is the largest signed so far by SICE in the USA, and is the first in which the company will deliver the four packages together. Through an agreement reached with Prince Contracting – a company acquired by another part of ACS, Dragados, in 2014 – SICE will execute the implementation of the ITS, lighting, signalization and signing equipment on the I-95 segment that consists of a 7.3-mile (12km) corridor from Commercial Boulevard to 10th Street SW in Broward County. The award of the project represents a strategic step forward in SICE’s plans for expansion in the USA, strengthening its position in Florida by gaining an important new client and securing its long term growth in Miami, home of its headquarters on the country’s east coast.
Being part of the Prince and WSP-Parsons Brinckerhoff (WSP-PB) team since early stages of the bidding, SICE played a key role in the proposal delivery phase, by providing its knowledge and experience of the different disciplines required for the scheme. The I-95 is the longest north-south route on the East Coast of the USA and one of the busiest on the country’s Interstate Highway Network. With a length of 1,927 miles (3,101km), it runs from the Houlton–Woodstock Border Crossing with New Brunswick, Canada, to its southern end in Miami. FDOT is intending to implement Express Lanes on the I-95 with the aim of improving mobility, relieving congestion, providing additional travel options, enhancing transit services and emergency evacuation, and accommodating future growth and development in the region.
SICE has recently completed work on the Crespo Tunnel, which forms part of the Cartagena Ring Road in Colombia, and will improve mobility and travel times between the center and north of the city. The 3,280ft (1,000m) long tunnel is equipped with electromechanical systems, which were designed, supplied, installed and commissioned by a consortium led by SICE, with the company also in charge of the overall project management. Initiated by the National Infrastructure Agency, the new tunnel aims to ensure the smooth flow of traffic between the city’s historical center and Cartagena north area, reducing travel times by 40%.
SICE has installed the tunnel’s interior and exterior lighting equipment, ventilation, fire detection and extinguishing systems, and all the ITS systems, which include: signaling, incident detection, SOS posts, CCTV, communications, and user information systems. The project’s scope also includes the Control Center, where information is received for the complete management and control of all operations by the tunnel’s integrated SCADA system, which not only includes the lighting, safety and ITS systems installed, but also pumping systems, low and medium voltage power control, and emergency power plants and generators.
