Partnership begins work on $4.2 billion BART extension

Preliminary engineering has begun for the Silicon Valley Rapid Transit project, which will extend Bay Area Rapid Transit’s rail system 16.3 miles into the heart of Santa Clara County.

Scheduled to take two years of a 10-year project, the initial preliminary engineering phase will be conducted by a joint venture of Hatch Mott MacDonald, Tunnels & Transportation Inc. in Pleasonton, Calif., San Francisco-based Bechtel Infrastructure Corp. and the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority.

Preliminary engineering will include program-wide project control services and station shells and procurement services for two tunnel boring machines that will construct a tunnel portion of the system.

The total cost of the project, which will continue through 2014, is $4.2 billion.