HDR has received a contract from the Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT) to serve as the general engineering consultant for the $1.8bn South Mountain Freeway Project in the US.

Undertaken as the first highway project procured under Arizona’s public-private-partnership statute, the South Mountain Freeway Project covers construction of a new 22-mile freeway running east and west along Pecos Road and then north and south between 55th and 63rd Avenues, connecting with Interstate 10 on each end.

HDR project manager Ken Smith said, "We’re honoured to be able to help ADOT deliver the first P3 and design-build-maintain project in the state.

"The entire region will benefit from having this last piece of the freeway in place."

"The entire region will benefit from having this last piece of the freeway in place."

Beginning at the existing I-10 and Loop 202 Santan Freeway interchange, the new freeway is expected to create 30,000 jobs, improve regional mobility, while adding three general-purpose lanes and one high occupancy vehicle, or carpool, lane in each direction.

Under the contract, HDR will assist with procurement, design and construction administration processes, including multidiscipline design oversight, resolution of claims and disputes, as well project management and risk analysis.

Upon completion, the freeway is anticipated to bring more permanent jobs and generate another $2bn of investment in the valley, and completes the system approved by voters in the 1985 Maricopa Association of Governments’ Regional Freeway Programme.

The freeway also forms part of the Regional Transportation Plan funding passed by Maricopa County voters in 2004 through Proposition 400, and completes Arizona’s Loop 202 and Loop 101 freeway system that are deemed necessary for high-quality regional mobility.

According to the current schedule, a contractor will be selected in early 2016, followed by beginning of construction activities in mid-2016, while the freeway is expected to open to traffic in late 2019 or early 2020.