Ford BlueOval City
Stanton, Tenn.
Manufacturing
Sent by: Walbridge
Region: ENR Texas and Southeast
Owner: Ford Motor Co.
Leading design firms: SSOE; Gala and Associates; Ghafari
Construction Manager: Walbridge
Structural Engineer: Gala and Associates
Civil engineer/MEP: SSOE
The team behind a $5.6 billion megaproject designed to manufacture and assemble F-Series electric vehicles for Ford Motor Co. it was delivered to be carbon neutral, with zero waste to landfill once fully operational.
The BlueOval City plant, located on a 4,000-acre campus, was designed as one of the largest auto manufacturing plants in the US and among the first to co-locate electric vehicle assembly and battery manufacturing. The facility, developed by Ford in a joint venture with South Korea-based SK On, was designed to integrate up to 43 GWh per year of local renewable energy sources such as geothermal, solar and wind.
“By reimagining how electric vehicles, and the batteries that power them, were designed, manufactured and recycled, Ford created a new system for manufacturing electric vehicles,” according to Walbridge, who was the construction manager for the Detroit-based project. Contractors began the project in 2022 and completed construction ahead of schedule in April 2025.
During pre-construction, the team identified two major challenges: shortages of supplies and labor. “Materials such as stone, sand, concrete decks, metal cladding and structural steel, which traditionally have shorter acquisition times, were … significantly affected” by COVID-19, the team says.
In addition, the project at its peak would require 6,000 workers, more than the number of people available. The team chose to procure materials during the design stages and developed a plan to store the materials on site before they were needed.
In December, Ford and SK On announced they were dissolving their partnership due to current EV market conditions, with the automaker moving to use the Tennessee plant for gas truck assembly. SK On said it’s a restructuring.
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