Michigan Awards $141M Airfield Contract in Selfridge Base Overhaul
Michigan’s State Administrative Board approved a $140.9 million construction management contract on Sept. 1 to Lansing-based The Christman Co. for airfield work at Selfridge Air National Guard Base, Engineering News-Record reports.
The award advances a nearly $1 billion modernization of the Harrison Township installation northeast of Detroit, which is being rebuilt to support F-15EX Eagle II fighters and KC-46 Pegasus tankers replacing the base’s A-10 Thunderbolt IIs and KC-135 Stratotankers.
Market Impact
The runway and taxiway package is one piece of an estimated $985 million in construction planned through 2031. The scope includes about 1,100 linear feet of hardened overrun and a 200-foot blast pad to support a northward shift of runway thresholds, reconstruction of runway shoulders, replacement of threshold and end lighting, realigned approach lighting and navigational aids, and relocation of the north perimeter road and fencing. Taxiways A and B will be extended north with portland cement concrete pavement, asphalt shoulders, edge lighting and markings.
Christman’s not-to-exceed contract covers preconstruction, construction, contingency, general conditions, bonds, insurance and the construction manager’s fee. Construction documents are due in September, with construction starting in March 2027 and Phase 1 finishing in December 2029. Michigan lawmakers approved $152 million in state general funds in May for the work. “This isn’t just new buildings,” Brig. Gen. Daniel J. Kramer II, commander of the Michigan Air National Guard, said in a 127th Wing release. “We are also shifting the runway and installing new power and sewer lines. This is a full-scale modernization of Selfridge infrastructure.”
Related contracts are already in place: Mead & Hunt holds an $11.15 million professional services deal as airfield designer, and Tetra Tech holds a $5.79 million environmental contract covering the joint permit application and Phase 2 wetland mitigation credits. The House version of the fiscal 2027 defense authorization bill includes $110 million for runway-encroachment mitigation, $28 million for the Taxiway Alpha extension and $24 million for Taxiway Bravo, plus additional funding for F-15EX maintenance-complex phases and KC-46 support projects.
What It Means for Subcontractors
- Civil and paving contractors should watch for subcontract packages under Christman’s $140.9 million CM contract, with construction starting March 2027 and Phase 1 finishing December 2029.
- Electrical and lighting trades have work ahead on threshold/end lighting replacement, approach lighting realignment and navigational aid installation tied to the runway threshold shift.
- Utility contractors (power and sewer line work) should track bid opportunities as Michigan’s Dept. of Technology, Management & Budget finalizes construction documents, due this September.
- Environmental and wetland mitigation subcontractors can look to Tetra Tech’s $5.79 million contract scope for permitting and Phase 2 wetland credit work feeding into the runway project.
- Excavation and drainage contractors in Macomb County have a precedent: Dan’s Excavating won the $27.8 million William P. Rosso Highway relocation package, a similar enabling-infrastructure model that could repeat as other off-base work gets sequenced.
- Hangar and vertical construction subcontractors should note Walsh Federal’s 2023 $27.94 million, 41,900-sq-ft fighter maintenance hangar as a benchmark for scope and pricing on future F-15EX-related facility bids.
- Firms should monitor fiscal 2027 defense authorization funding, $110 million for runway-encroachment mitigation and a combined $52 million for Taxiway Alpha and Bravo extensions, for additional package releases tied to F-15EX arrival in 2028 and KC-46 arrival in 2030.
