As the U.S. General Services Administration awarded a$ 274.7 million design-build commitment to Hensel Phelps Construction Co. for a business port close to an existing U.S. Customs and Border Protection service, plans to increase the potential for evaluation of commercial vehicles are progressing.

In contrast to the current Raul Hector Castro Land Port of Entry in Douglas, the proposed 80-acre center may increase the number of commercial auto inspection roads from one to four and the number of professional inspection docks from 12 to 36, according to GSA. Additionally, it would be big enough to accommodate large mining equipment, which is too large for the current port to accommodate.

Hensel Phelps, with a group that even includes Jones Studio and Stantec, beat out two different selected design-build team for the job, GSA purchasing documents show. The various selected groups were Caddell-AISI, a Joint Venture, and William Charles Construction and Wilson &amp, Co. Engineers and Architects.

Structure is expected to begin in the fall of 2028 and be finished in the fall of that year.

Hensel Phelps did not respond to complaints about the job right away. This summers, GSA selected the company to expand and modernize the California Calexico West Land Port of Entry.

GSA is providing$ 80.3 % of the cost of the Arizona project under the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which includes$ 3.4 billion for land port of entry improvements, and$ 92.2 % from the Inflation Reduction Act, which provides$ 3.4 million for the use of low-embodied carbon building materials and making federal infrastructure more responsible. The project is a component of a strategy to have a portfolio of federal buildings with zero emissions by 2045.

The project is part of the” two-port solution” to address issues with the Castro Land Port of Entry about 4.5 miles away. The 4,8-acre facility was built in 1933 and expanded in 1993, but GSA officials claim that all inbound and outbound trucks must use the same undersized commercial vehicle inspection compound, slowing traffic.

While all commercial operations would be done at the new port, passenger vehicles, pedestrians, cyclists and buses would continue using the Castro Land Port of Entry. Additionally, GA intends to renovate and expand that port on its own.

In the fall of 2027, GSA plans to award a separate design-build contract for the rehabilitation of Castro Land Port of Entry. The work is anticipated to begin the following year and be finished in 2031.