The US Army Corps of Engineers has selected a Black & Veatch-Stantec joint venture for design, engineering and analysis services for the Brandon Road Interbasin project. Under an $85 million single-award task order contract covering an eight-year order period, the companies will work on modifications to the Brandon Road Dam and Dam in Joliet, Illinois, to prevent invasive carp from reaching the Great Lakes.
The April 23 award is for Increment III of the $1.15 billion global project. Its scope of work includes the design of a new engineering channel, underwater electrical and acoustic deterrents and installations for these systems, and work on downbank lines.
The joint venture brings “comprehensive multidisciplinary capabilities to support a critical national project with long-term environmental and economic benefits,” Tom Rose, Black & Veatch’s federal agency segment leader, said in a statement.
This is the second award for work on the project since the Trump administration halted funding and called for an administrative review in December 2025. The move drew pushback from Illinois and Michigan senators in a January letter, Gov. JB Pritzker (D-Ill.) in a March statement, Gov. Tony Evers (D-Wis.) in an April 10 meeting between Michigan President and Whitney Gretch (D-Wis). donald trump
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On April 11, the Corps awarded JF Brennan Co. Inc., La Crosse, Wis., a $113.8 million contract to complete the remaining Increment I projects. Site preparation and channel rock excavation for Increment I had been completed in July 2025.
The Brandon Road Lock and Dam is described by the Corps in a press release as a “critical point” in preventing the costly intrusion of carp and other invasive species into the Great Lakes. The project’s management approach uses a “layered system of innovative technologies,” according to the release, including a curtain of bubbles that flow from the floor of the canal, underwater speakers that play sounds that repel carp, and an electric field that spans the canal.
