Knife River Corp. was awarded a $112 million materials and paving project in Texas.
Known locally as Big 6, the State Highway 6 improvement project in the Bryan/College Station area started this month and is expected to be completed in 2030. A 12-mile stretch of the highway is being reconstructed and widened from four lanes to six, enhancing capacity for commuters, freight and emergency evacuation routes in the growing market.
Knife River’s Texas operation is an asphalt and paving subcontractor to Fluor Corp. on the $671 million Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) project.
“State Highway 6 serves as a vital north-south artery for Bryan/College Station, Texas A&M University and Brazos County,” says Rodney McCarn, president of Knife River’s Texas operations. “We’re uniquely positioned in the market with an upgraded asphalt plant and internal access to high-quality aggregates by rail – and our team is excited to put both to work for the community.”
The Big 6 project calls for Knife River to provide about 928,000 tons of hot-mix asphalt for the widened roadway, upgraded interchanges, reconfigured auxiliary lanes and new shared paths for bicycles and pedestrians.
In addition to asphalt and paving, Knife River may also provide sand, MSE backfill and base course to Fluor Corp. on an as-needed basis throughout the project.
“This project is tailor-made for us,” says Brian Gray, president and CEO of Knife River. “It fits our mission of supporting the infrastructure buildout in our midsize, high-growth markets. It leverages our vertically integrated supply chain and pulls through higher margin paving materials. It is a publicly funded project backed by TxDOT and IIJA (the Infrastructure Investment & Jobs Act). And it will keep our talented aggregates, asphalt and paving team members in Texas working year-round.
“We’re looking forward to supporting the strong growth in Texas on this project and others for years to come,” Gray adds.
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