Loyola Lane for the 183 South project in Austin, Texas. Credit: Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority.

US-based engineering and construction firm Fluor has announced that Colorado River Constructors, its joint venture (JV) with Balfour Beatty Infrastructure, has opened the new eight-mile 183 South project in Austin, Texas.

Formerly known as the Bergstrom Expressway, the US Highway 183 South is considered to be one of Austin’s most important arterial roads and serves more than 60,000 vehicles each day.

In 2015, the Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority awarded the $581m design-build contract to the Fluor-led JV for designing and reconstructing nearly eight miles of the US Highway 183.

According to the contract, the JV involved designing and reconstructing the stretch from US Highway 290 in Austin to State Highway 71 near the Austin Bergstrom International Airport.

The project included the design and construction of six tolled lanes, new general-purpose lanes and five grade-separated interchanges.

It also included the construction of 38 bridges, including four pedestrian bridges, and two direct connect flyover ramps, as well as the installation of intelligent traffic management systems.

The project also features enhanced landscaping and aesthetics, trailhead improvements, and bike and pedestrian sidewalks with shared-use paths.

Fluor’s Urban Solutions group president Terry Towle said: “It is always gratifying to finish a project and successfully deliver it to the client. This project represents Fluor’s commitment to providing the most significant improvements to the US Highway 183 corridor since the mid-1960s.”

In May, the conditionally selected Colorado River Constructors to rehabilitate and widen a section of Highway 290.

The project involved renovating and widening a seven-mile section from the east end of Circle Drive to Loop 1 and State Highway 71 to Silvermine Drive in Travis County, west of downtown Austin.

Fluor has been continuously designing and building infrastructure projects in Texas for nearly 20 years and is currently delivering the I-635 LBJ East Project and the Southern Gateway Project in Dallas. The firm was recently awarded the Oak Hill Parkway Project in southwest Austin, ten miles west of the 183 South Project.