The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers invited 13 companies to bid on a
one-year contract for construction work to refurbish major Iraqi facilities after the elimination of the regime of
President Saddam Hussein. The bids
were scheduled to be submitted on Tuesday.
The tender did not specify that the project would take place in Iraq.
Instead, the contract referred to the area of U.S. Central Command, which
includes more than 20 countries from the Horn of Africa to Central Asia.
"The focus is Iraq and is part of the reconstruction of Iraq after
Saddam," a U.S. official said. "But Central Command could divert projects
toward repairing any U.S. military facilities in the Gulf damaged in the
war."
Officials said the bidders have been asked to envision scenarios of
damaged infrastructure, such as bridges and oil facilities. Another scenario
included the construction of a compound ringed by a security fence.
The Army Corps of Engineering plans to issue awards for the contract by
April 1. The tender said the minimum amount of the contract is $500,000 with
a maximum of $100 million.
The companies invited to bid are Bechtel National, J.A. Jones
Construction Inc; Washington Group International; Perini Corp.; M.A.
Mortenson; Chicago Bridge and Iron Co; Dick Corp; Parsons Infrastructure and
Technology Group; Fluor Corp; Parsons Brinkerhoff; Earth Tech; Black and
Veatch; and Bechtel National.
The United States has also invited five U.S. companies to bid on
civilian reconstruction projects in Iraq. The projects, valued at $900
million, will be supervised by the U.S. Agency for International
Development.