Kiewit, a leading construction and engineering firm based in Omaha, Nebraska, has secured a $404 million contract from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) to carry out a critical portion of the Port Arthur, Texas, flood protection project. The work forms part of a broader $7 billion initiative aimed at bolstering the Gulf Coast's resilience to hurricanes and storm surges.

Announced in an official USACE news release, the award will support a major upgrade to Port Arthur’s hurricane protection system. Located in the heart of a vital U.S. petroleum processing and shipping hub, the infrastructure improvements are designed to protect the city and its critical economic assets from future storms.

Project Scope and Timeline

The scope of Kiewit’s contract—referred to as Contract PAV04—includes the replacement of 9,525 feet of floodwall, 2,300 feet of levee raises, four levee-floodwall tie-ins, and fronting protection at three key pump stations.

The project is part of the Sabine Pass to Galveston Bay Coastal Storm Risk Management Project (SG2), a sweeping coastal storm surge mitigation effort. PAV04 will also serve as a seed project for the Construction Multiple Award Task Order Contract (C-MATOC), a USACE vehicle for delivering large-scale civil works infrastructure along the Texas coast.

Construction is set to begin in summer 2026, with an expected duration of three and a half years. Full completion of the Port Arthur system upgrade is currently targeted for 2033.

Long-Term Resilience for a Critical Region

The Port Arthur hurricane protection system was initially constructed between 1966 and 1983, built to protect against storm surges up to 14 feet above mean sea level. However, the intensifying frequency and strength of Gulf storms in recent years have made enhancements increasingly urgent.

According to USACE, these improvements will greatly enhance the system’s ability to withstand severe weather events, particularly those fueled by climate change, while protecting Port Arthur’s deep-water port and its extensive petroleum and chemical infrastructure.

“This award, which represents the largest construction contract to date for the S2G Project, is an important step in the long-term effort to improve flood protection for the Port Arthur area,” said Gulf Coast Protection District Executive Director Coalter Baker, in the release.

A Larger Network of Flood Mitigation

Kiewit’s contract is the third in a series of ten projects planned to strengthen storm surge defenses in the region. In December, Flatiron Constructors broke ground on PAV03A, a $102.5 million phase of the same initiative, according to the Defense Visual Information Distribution Service.

The broader SG2 program represents one of the largest and most ambitious coastal resilience undertakings in the U.S., bringing together federal, state, and local partners to protect communities and infrastructure from catastrophic flooding.

As extreme weather patterns become more common along the Gulf Coast, the success of projects like Port Arthur’s floodwall upgrade will play a crucial role in securing both economic continuity and public safety.

Originally reported by Joe Bousquin in Construction Dive.