Spanish company involved in some of British Columbia's largest infrastructure projects

The consortium of engineering and construction companies the province chose as the preferred bidder to design and build eight stations on the $4 billion Surrey SkyTrain extension includes Acciona Infrastructure Canada, the same company involved in the North wastewater treatment plant Metro Vancouver’s huge-budget Shore.

What went wrong to turn the North Shore project into a $3.86 billion debacle from a $700 million project when Acciona was contracted to build it in 2017 is the subject of a series of lawsuits.

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Acciona, however, already had a substantial presence in British Columbia as a leader or participant in consortia building infrastructure projects ranging from the Royal Jubilee Hospital in Victoria to major civil works for BC Hydro’s Site C dam.

It was later awarded the province’s Pattullo Bridge replacement work and the SkyTrain Broadway extension before completion in 2021 of the North Shore wastewater project.

On Friday, South Fraser Station Partners, the consortium including Aecon Constructors, Acciona Infrastructure Canada, Pomerleau BC and AECOM Canada, was presented as the preferred bidder to negotiate a final contract to build stations for the SkyTrain Surrey extension.

The Ministry of Transportation said the province “follows best practices in procurement, supported by Infrastructure BC, to ensure strict competitive selection processes.”

“We conducted a robust due diligence process to select the proponents most capable of meeting the requirements of this project,” the ministry’s unattributed statement said.

No one from Acciona was available for an interview Tuesday, but in a statement, a representative said the company “has a proud history of building important infrastructure across Canada and employing thousands of Canadian workers over the past decades.”

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Of the station construction project, half of the $4 billion SkyTrain extension, the Acciona representative said, “We look forward to bringing our local and global expertise to bear on this important project for British Columbia.”

Other projects in which Acciona participates:

Broadway Subway

Acciona, as part of a consortium with a Canadian subsidiary of the Italian infrastructure firm Ghella, was awarded a $1.73 billion contract in September 2020 to design, build and partially finance the 5.7-kilometer Broadway subway extension of the SkyTrain Millennium line. The week-long strike by concrete workers in the summer of 2022 delayed the start of tunnel drilling on the project and pushed the project’s completion date from 2025 to early 2026.

Pattullo Bridge

Acciona, as the main proponent of Fraser Crossing Partners together with Aecon Constructors, was awarded a $968 million contract to complete the main construction work of a new four-lane crossing of the Fraser River between New Westminster and Surrey to replace the 90-meter bridge. years. -old Pattullo Bridge.

Site C

A subsidiary of Acciona was part of a consortium together with Samsung C&T Canada to which BC Hydro, in 2015, awarded a $1.75 billion contract for the main civil works of the dam project. However, what was an $8.3 billion project when it was launched, its costs have nearly doubled to $16 billion.

Royal Jubilee Hospital

Acciona was part of the team that was awarded a contract in 2008 to build the new $283 million, 500-bed Royal Jubilee Hospital in Victoria, which opened in 2010.

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