Jacobs JV Lands Engineering Deal on $750M Utah Canal Overhaul
A joint venture of Dallas-based Jacobs and Draper, Utah-based Bowen Collins & Associates has been selected to provide engineering services on the Strawberry High Line Improvement Project, Construction Dive reports. The Central Utah Water Conservancy District awarded the contract for the project, which carries an estimated $750 million construction value.
Market Impact
The project will convert the Strawberry High Line Canal, built in 1916, from an open-water system into a buried, pressurized pipeline. Plans include a new pump station and related infrastructure, with the old canal corridor repurposed as a regional recreational trail. The work spans south Utah County and eastern Juab County and is designed to serve both agricultural users and urban communities, ultimately supporting water delivery to an estimated 420,000 people.
The project is still awaiting final approval but has already secured $100 million in federal funding from the Department of Interior, allocated earlier this year. According to a May 2026 environmental assessment document, construction could begin as early as 2027 and reach operational status by 2032, contingent on completing environmental compliance and other legal requirements.
“Modernizing critical water infrastructure is essential to managing community vitality,” Tom Meinhart, executive vice president at Jacobs, said in the news release. “With Utah’s significant growth, the Strawberry High Line Improvement Project would improve system performance delivering water for agriculture, communities and future development.”
The win adds to a string of major water infrastructure awards for Jacobs in the West, including a $200 million progressive design-build modernization of a wastewater treatment facility for San Jose and Santa Clara, California, and a $500 million progressive design-build contract for the Donald C. Tillman Advanced Water Purification Facility with Los Angeles Sanitation & Environment and the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power.
What It Means for Subcontractors
- Civil and pipeline subs should watch for bid packages tied to the buried pipeline conversion, which will replace the open canal across Utah and Juab counties once the project clears environmental review, with construction targeted to start as early as 2027.
- Mechanical and E&I contractors have a pump station package to track, since the project scope explicitly includes a new pump station and related pumping infrastructure.
- Trail and site contractors should note the corridor repurposing plan, which calls for an integrated regional trail once the canal is buried, opening a secondary scope beyond core water conveyance work.
- Firms working the western water infrastructure market can look at Jacobs’ broader project list, including the $200 million San Jose/Santa Clara wastewater modernization and the $500 million Donald C. Tillman facility in Los Angeles, as indicators of where progressive design-build subcontract packages are likely to open next.
- With $100 million in federal funding already secured from the Department of Interior, subs should monitor the district’s public procurement notices for design-build or CMAR subcontract solicitations as final approvals move forward toward a targeted 2032 operational date.
