In preparing for a busy construction season of widening and hard-surfacing Phase I of the Trans Labrador Highway, the Provincial Government is seeking an engineering firm to manage the project.

The Honourable Dianne Whalen, Minister of Transportation and Works, announced today that her department will issue an Expression of Interest (EOI) tomorrow, inviting qualified firms, or groups of firms, to provide contract administration and quality control for the $45-million Trans Labrador Highway project.

The Department of Transportation and Works is currently in the second year of a five-year plan to widen 530 kilometres of the Trans Labrador Highway between Happy Valley-Goose Bay and Wabush, including the application of a hard surface.

"We hope to start these projects in early May and finish in early December," said Minister Whalen. "To meet these timelines, we will supplement our in-house project management staff with private consulting services to manage this significant undertaking."

"The Provincial Government began the hard-surfacing project alone last summer and worked hard to ensure the Federal Government came on board to cost-share funding. Those efforts will bear fruit this construction season."

This summer, the Department of Transportation and Works will continue widening of the Trans Labrador Highway, which began last summer and pave 30 kilometres of the highway from Happy Valley-Goose Bay towards Wabush.

The deadline to submit an Expression of Interest is April 8, 2008, at which time the Provincial Government will evaluate proposals received through the EOI process.

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2008 03 14                                                 2:15 p.m.