The US Army Corps of Engineers has awarded a $691 million contract for the additional water storage fishpass facility at the Howard A. Hanson Dam in Washington State to a FlatironDragados-Aecon joint venture. The dam, located in King County, serves as the primary line of defense against catastrophic flooding in the Green River Valley. Delivered under an integrated design and build model, construction is expected to begin this year after the development phase and conclude in 2031. The project will add a downstream facility with vertically stacked ports to improve fish passage and expand water storage capacity. The upgrade will improve flood control, support regional growth and restore salmon access to important upstream habitat.
Sound Transit opened the Crosslake connection— a $3.82 billion, seven-mile segment of the transit agency’s light rail system — on March 28. The project, which parallels Interstate 90 across Lake Washington, is the first to carry passengers across a floating bridge. The milestone marks the completion of Line 2 and links Seattle to the Eastside across Lake Washington, including Bellevue and Redmond, and expands regional access to destinations such as Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. The joint venture Northwest Transit Systems Partners consisted of STV and Mott MacDonald as the system construction management partner for the project.
The Las Virgenes-Triunfo Joint Powers Authority has awarded Walsh Construction a $303.7 million contract to deliver the final design, construction and commissioning of the new advanced water purification facility and major pipeline components in western Los Angeles County. Brown and Caldwell are the lead consultants on the project, which is scheduled to begin construction this month, with operations expected to begin in early 2030. The project uses membrane filtration technology, reverse osmosis and ultraviolet disinfection to treat recycled water to meet state drinking water standards.
Arevon Energy has made progress on its 250 megawatts/1,000 megawatt-hours Cormorant Energy Storage Project in Daly City, California. The $600 million facility, which is expected to be operational in 2027, will use lithium iron phosphate battery technology and is capable of powering approximately 321,000 homes for up to four hours during peak demand. The project is under a long-term contracting agreement with MCE, which serves more than 1.8 million residents in four Bay Area counties. The renewables group of Primoris Services Corp. is the engineering, procurement and construction contractor.
The LA Metro board selected the St. Vincent–Fairfax for the extension of the K line to Hollywood at their March meeting. The 9.7-mile underground route, the longest option studied, will run from Crenshaw/Expo through key corridors including San Vicente Boulevard and Fairfax Avenue. The project remains subject to local funding through an enhanced infrastructure financing district. The draft environmental impact report released in 2024 estimated the cost of the project at $14.8 billion. Once completed, the extension will improve regional connectivity by linking multiple Metro rail lines and moving the system towards a more flexible grid-based network.
Skanska USA has completed construction of the Oregon Health and Science University Vista Pavilion in Portland, a $650 million, 14-story, 533,000-square-foot hospital expansion on the Marquam Hill campus. The project is scheduled to open this spring. The facility adds 128 patient beds with room for 64 more, increasing hospital capacity by nearly a third and expanding services for complex conditions and cancer care. Skanska emphasized sustainability measures, such as diverting around 90% of construction waste from landfills and using low-carbon materials.
The final section of the 101 Freeway project from Carpinteria to Santa Barbara is scheduled for completion in 2028.
Photo courtesy of Granite Construction
Caltrans has awarded the $114 million Segment 4E north of the CM/GC project from Hwy 101 in Carpinteria to Santa Barbara to Granite Construction in Watsonville, California, completing the final mainline segment of the program. The multi-year initiative aims to improve safety and ease congestion along an 11-mile corridor in Santa Barbara County. The work includes lane replacement, adding peak car lanes in both directions between Hermosillo Road and Salinas Street and rebuilding the Cabrillo Boulevard interchange with new bridges and right ramps. Construction will begin in April 2026 and end in December 2028.
Suffolk Construction has been awarded the construction management contract for the major student housing expansion at California Polytechnic University in San Luis Obispo. The project will add approximately 3,600 new beds and renovate approximately 1,200 existing units and use off-site modular manufacturing guided by digital modeling, geospatial planning and logistics sequencing to minimize campus disruption and improve scheduling. The project is part of Cal Poly’s multi-phase $1.2 billion student housing program, supporting the university’s goal of guaranteeing two years of on-campus housing while easing pressure from the local rental market.
California Associated General Contractors 2026 Optimism Survey shows that state contractors entered 2026 with measured confidence. Nearly 62% of respondents forecast growth or moderate increases in overall construction activity across the state, while 81% expressed confidence in their own companies’ performance. About 52% of companies plan to increase hiring and about 54% anticipate growth in net profits. The outlook varies by sector, with construction-focused companies reporting stronger activity expectations (80%) compared to those focused on the highways/transportation (66%) and utilities/infrastructure (69%) markets. Contractors cited persistent challenges including demand for skilled labor, regulatory compliance and rising wages.
The Port of Seattle and Alaska Airlines have completed major construction on the $546 million SEA Gateway project at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. The upgrade at the north end of the main terminal improves passenger flow from curb to gate by introducing automated baggage drop systems, improved security checkpoints, expanded digital signage, redesigned baggage claim areas and new light-filled public spaces. The project was designed by HOK and built by Hensel Phelps.
