Cianbro Corp. of Pittsfield has been awarded part of a $215 million federal contract to modernize and expand facilities at the U.S. Land Port of Entry in Alexandria Bay, New York.

The contract was awarded to Cianbro and Northland Associates Inc. of Liverpool, New York, by the U.S. General Services Administration’s Public Buildings Service.

“Obviously, the project is very good for Cianbro,” Alan Grover, the company’s communications manager, said in a phone interview. “It’s a large, two-phase project at this point.”

Cianbro President Andy Vigue was traveling and Grover relayed his comments on the project.

“This will certainly help Cianbro to grow when you get a job of this size,” Grover said. “It’s great for the company and helps us to continue to grow, and the feeling is, growth of a Maine business like Cianbro is an indirect benefit for Maine.”

The first phase of the contract for Cianbro and Northland, Cianbro’s joint venture partner, is for $90.8 million and is expected to take 2½ years, Grover said.

The U.S. General Services Administration website says construction of the project is expected to begin this month, and both phases are expected to be completed in July 2022.

“Phase I includes construction of a commercial inspection warehouse with inspection bays, commercial inspection lanes (with split-level booths for either commercial or non-commercial), impound lot, and a portion of the elevated parking over the commercial side,” the website says. “Phase I also includes acquisition of the two remaining necessary parcels of land.”

Phase II would include “construction of a new main administration building, a new outbound inspection facility, a new veterinary services building, non-commercial inspection lanes, a new non-commercial secondary inspection plaza, new non-intrusive inspection buildings, and employee and visitor parking areas.”

Cianbro, founded in 1949 by the Cianchette brothers, is one of the largest employee-owned construction and construction services companies in the U.S., the company website says.

Cianbro’s corporate headquarters is at Cianbro Square in Pittsfield, and the company also has offices in Portland and Brewer, as well as in Maryland, Connecticut and Massachusetts.

Cianbro operates in more than 40 states and five markets and employs more than 4,000 “team members,” the website says. The company manages and performs civil, structural, mechanical, electrical, instrumentation, fabrication and coating projects.

It also says that “Cianbro has safely and efficiently planned, managed, and constructed many technically complex, historic, and environmentally sensitive projects for a wide variety of public and private clients.

“… Cianbro’s number one priority is the safety of its team members – every team member should go home in better condition than in which they arrived.”

Likewise, the Northland Associates website says that safety is its primary concern. The general contracting company was established in 1982.

Amy Calder can be contacted at 861-9247 or at:

acalder@centralmaine.com

Twitter: @AmyCalder17