10 Firms Win Spots on $238 Million Army Corps Horizontal Design Contract

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has selected 10 firms to compete for orders under a $238 million, firm-fixed-price contract for architectural and engineering services, primarily horizontal design. The Sacramento District awarded places to AECOM Technical Services, RJH Consultants, LH&J/Arcadis JV, MGE Engineering, HDR Engineering, Cornforth–Gannett Fleming JV, Kleinfelder–Stantec USACE JV, GFT Arcadis SPK CW JV, GEI–Tetra Tech Federal JV and Black & Veatch–Geosyntec Civil Works JV. The firms will compete for each order rather than divide the $238 million ceiling equally. Work locations will be established with individual orders, and the estimated contract completion date is Oct. 29, 2031.

Horizontal Design Contract Details

The award establishes an on-call pool for design work, not a single construction project. The award notice identifies horizontal design as the primary service but does not assign a named facility or project to the firms at this stage. The Sacramento District’s procurement forecast listed a five-year, $238 million horizontal-design architectural and engineering contract, consistent with the value announced at award.

The district’s Civil Works portfolio provides context for the type and scale of infrastructure design it manages. According to its 2025 district overview, it oversees maintenance of about 1,600 miles of levees across California, Nevada, Utah and Colorado and operates and maintains 17 dams in California’s Central Valley. Those figures describe the district’s broader responsibilities; the projects and services under this contract will be defined through subsequent orders.

Recent Sacramento-area projects illustrate the district’s continuing engineering workload. Its Sacramento River levee program includes approximately three miles of improvements, while the broader American River Common Features 2016 project calls for roughly nine miles of slurry cutoff walls and up to 10 miles of erosion protection. The award notice does not assign either project to the new contract.

Award and Contractor Background

The Corps received 27 bids for the contract. Each of the 10 awardees can compete for orders, with the location and funding determined when an order is issued. The announced $238 million ceiling is $2 million below the amount listed in the district’s procurement forecast.

Several awardees have performed related Sacramento District engineering work. AECOM holds a $7.8 million Folsom Dam Raise design order covering staged designs, geotechnical investigations, surveying and engineering during construction; its listed potential performance end was October 2026. HDR holds a $5.8 million Lower American River habitat-restoration design order with a listed potential end in May 2027. MGE also received a $1 million engineering-during-construction order for the West Sacramento project’s Yolo Bypass East Levees, with a listed potential end in April 2027. These orders show work the firms have undertaken for the district; they do not establish which projects they will receive under the new contract.

This award was disclosed by the DoW in its daily press release. Additional contract details will be available on HigherGov in approximately 90 days under W9123827DA001, W9123827DA002, W9123827DA003, W9123827DA004, W9123827DA005, W9123827DA006, W9123827DA007, W9123827DA008, W9123827D0009, W9123827DA010 after the contract is formally disclosed by the government.