Atco Ltd. secures $470 million contract for worker housing at Site C hydro dam

CALGARY – Atco Ltd.’s (TSX:ACO.X) structure and logistics division has won a $470-million contract with B.C. Hydro to build accommodation for workers at the Site C hydroelectric project.

The eight-year contract includes the design, manufacture, installation and operation of a 630,000-square-foot lodge that can accommodate 1,600 construction workers.

Atco Two Rivers Lodging Group, the subsidiary of Atco Structures & Logistics that is responsible for the work, started construction in June under a preliminary agreement.

The company expects to create 360 engineering, construction and administrative jobs for the housing project near Fort St. John, B.C., which should be completed by mid-2016.

The Site C hydro project in northeastern B.C.’s Peace Region is expected to cost $8.8 billion and will have 1,100 megawatts of generating capacity, enough to power about 450,000 homes.

Some environmental groups, First Nations, and farmers have opposed the project because of the 5,550 hectares of land that will be flooded by the dam’s reservoir.