IN Brief:
- FlatironDragados-Aecon JV has finalised a US$691 million contract at Howard A. Hanson Dam.
- Construction is due to start in the second quarter, with completion expected in the third quarter of 2031.
- The project combines flood storage, dam works, and fish-passage infrastructure in one civil package.
Aecon said its joint venture with FlatironDragados has finalised a US$691 million contract with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for the Howard A. Hanson Dam Additional Water Storage Fish Passage Facility project in Washington State.
The job will be delivered under an integrated design-and-construction model, with construction expected to begin in the second quarter and completion targeted for the third quarter of 2031. The works include a downstream facility with vertically stacked ports on the dam’s upstream side, designed to work with upstream elements that support access to spawning habitat.
The contract pushes forward a scheme that sits at the junction of flood protection, water resilience, and environmental infrastructure. Howard A. Hanson Dam is a critical flood-control asset in the Green River Valley, and the next stage of work is intended to expand water-storage capability while also improving fish passage above the structure.
One contract, several civil engineering demands
Dam projects of this type draw multiple disciplines into one package: heavy civils, hydraulic structures, complex sequencing around an operating asset, environmental interfaces, and long-duration stakeholder management. The delivery model also points to the growing use of collaborative development phases where contractors are brought in early to resolve design risk before full construction ramps up.
Why blended resilience projects are becoming more common
Across North America and Europe, more infrastructure owners are looking for projects that answer several policy pressures at once rather than one at a time. Flood storage, ecosystem restoration, water security, and long-term asset performance are increasingly being procured together, creating larger and more technically demanding packages for contractors but also a clearer route to long-term public investment.
