MACTEC Providing Verification Testing for $1 Billion FDOT Port of Miami Tunnel

MIAMI, Jan. 24, 2011 – MACTEC has been retained by the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) to provide verification testing services for the $1 billion Port of Miami tunnel project. Allen Kibler, President of MACTEC Engineering and Consulting, Inc., (www.mactec.com), made the announcement.

The Port of Miami tunnel project is one of the largest public works projects ever undertaken in Florida. Slated for completion in 2014, it will connect the Port of Miami to the MacArthur Causeway. The tunnel will provide direct access between the seaport, Interstates 395 and 95, keep the port competitive, relieve congested downtown Miami streets of Port passenger and cargo traffic, and facilitate ongoing/future development plans in and around Miami.

A $45 million, four-story-high German digging machine 42-feet in diameter will dig the tunnels under Biscayne Bay; each of the twin tubes will be 41-feet in diameter and about 3,900 feet long. They'll also reach a depth of 120 feet below the water.

The Port of Miami is the largest container port in Florida and handles more than 25 shipping lines which call on approximately 100 countries and 250 ports around the world. Cargo volume exceeds 8 million tons annually. The Port also handles almost four million multi-day cruise passengers annually. The Port is the second largest economic engine in Florida, generating an estimated 110,000 direct and indirect jobs with a total economic impact of $16 billion annually.

According to MACTEC Group Leader Morgan Dickinson, MACTEC is providing verification testing through the company's current FDOT Materials Testing contract. Verification testing is performed to verify the quality control testing performed by the general contractor. Key verification testing tasks include soils, concrete and asphalt. Testing frequencies are about 25% of the contractor's required testing, and the results must compare within tight tolerances. Both the QC and verification test are input into the FDOT database, and when the test results compare favorably, MACTEC approves the section or a lot of material represented by the tests.

MACTEC (www.mactec.com), based in Alpharetta, GA, is a leading engineering and design, environmental, and construction firm focused on four strategic business lines: Industrial/Commercial, Infrastructure (Transportation and Municipal), Energy, and Federal. MACTEC offers an ever-broadening portfolio of sustainable solutions, from renewable energy to facility asset management. With annual revenues of more than $440 million, MACTEC's 2,700-plus employees work from over 70 offices nationwide. MACTEC consistently ranks in the top 10% of Engineering News-Record's Top 500 Design Firms. The firm has been a fixture in South Florida for over 30 years.

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