OEC gets another contract at Miami airport

OEC has just been granted another contract to carry out construction work at Miami International Airport. The Brazilian company, in consortium with the North American company CES, was selected to execute the complete modernization of part of the facilities of the check-in area of the Central Terminal, which aims to improve the quality of passenger service as well as to increase the productivity of airlines during check-in. The scope of work includes the installation of new luggage conveyors. The work is expected to be completed in 16 months following a USD17 million investment to be made by the city’s airport authority, which plans to invest a total of U7.5 billion in its airport improvement program. Miami’s international airport is one of the largest sources of direct and indirect local job opportunities and essential to the local economy.

This is the third project that OEC has won in recent weeks at the site. It shall be performed at the same time as the project of interconnection between the luggage systems of South and Central Terminals. In addition to these two, OEC has been hired by a multinational logistics company operating at the airport to perform several innovative works at its local facilities. By 2021, OEC had already completed a complete renovation of the airport’s luggage handling system, making it one of the most modern in the United States.

According to Luiz Simon, OEC’s Chief Executive Officer in the United States, these are complex projects with high relevance to airlines, operators, and airport users. “The project shall be executed in phases so that the impact on airport operations shall be minimal and virtually imperceptible to passengers. It is worth mentioning that this is a project in the airport with the largest number of international passengers in the United States”, he says. The work requires close coordination with various authorities, from the Miami County Aviation Department, federal agencies, to the airlines in operation there.

Background

OEC has an extensive history of projects implemented at the Miami airport. In the 2000s, the company participated in a joint venture responsible for the expansion of the airport’s North and South terminals by more than 140 thousand square meters, in a project that received, at the time, investments of USD1.6 billion and employed about 2 thousand people. It also took part in the construction of the MIA Mover, an extension of the Miami metro system that connects the city to the airport and runs 1.6 km. In 2018, the company started the execution of the modernization of the airport’s luggage system.

OEC was the first Brazilian construction company to be granted a public contract in the United States, in 1991. OEC is responsible for the construction of some of Miami’s architectural icons, such as the Adrienne Arsht Arts Center, the arena which is houses the Miami Heat basketball games, the elevated Golden Glades Interchange, Florida International University’s International Stadium, and the modernization of the Port of Miami, among other projects.