AECOM's Backlog Rides Power, Transportation Projects to Highs

Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Engineering and design-build firm AECOM (NYSE:ACM) (Los Angeles, California) saw its backlog hit a record high in the recently ended second quarter of its 2024 fiscal year, with wins in its energy, environmental and transportation end markets pointing to continued demand growth in the near term. Industrial Info is tracking more than $27 billion worth of active and planned projects across the U.S. and Canada that involve AECOM's services, more than half of which is attributed to projects nearing or under construction.

Click on the image at right for a graph detailing the top 10 project developers using AECOM's services, by total investment value.

AECOM's total backlog increased 3% to a record $23.7 billion, driven by "a continued high win rate and a growing contribution from larger wins that enhance long-term earnings visibility," according to a quarterly press release. Revenues for the fiscal second quarter increased 13% to $3.9 billion.

The vulnerability of U.S. transportation infrastructure has been a hot topic in the news following the collapse of the Port of Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge in March. Since third-quarter 2022, AECOM and STV Incorporated (New York, New York) have been managing the $2.3 billion overhaul of New Jersey's Portal Bridge, which traverses the Hackensack River near Kearny and supports an Amtrak line used by the New Jersey Transit Corporation. The bridge's owners aim to decommission and demolish the 2.44-mile structure, inaugurated in 1910, and replace it with a two-track, fixed-span bridge that would include new rail bridges over adjacent roadways.

The Portal Bridge project is set to wrap up in the second half of 2027, although numerous factors could push back the completion date. Subscribers to Industrial Info's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) Industrial Manufacturing Project Database can learn more from a detailed project report.

AECOM also is at work on several projects addressing capacity issues at major U.S. ports. Within the coming year, it expects to finish construction on the Georgia Ports Authority's $200 million expansion of the Garden City Terminal at the Port of Savannah, which includes 90 acres of new container storage yard, which will be connected to the terminal via a mile-long access roadway; as early as next year, it could begin construction on a new multimodal container terminal at the Port of New Orleans, which would include an industrial park and a distribution campus. Both projects would allow the ports to handle larger cargo ships. Subscribers can read detailed reports on the Garden City and New Orleans projects.

Airport terminals also are on AECOM's agenda. Next year, it expects to finish construction on a $1.1 billion modernization of the Pittsburgh International Airport that includes relocating many of the ground-side functions to a new, 635,000-square-foot facility that will be built adjacent to the airside terminal. Subscribers can learn more from a detailed project report.

"Our end markets have been particularly strong for the last few quarters and have remained strong this quarter, and we see them remaining strong again, driven by transportation, water and the environment business," said Troy Rudd, the chief executive officer of AECOM, in a recent quarterly earnings-related conference call. Rudd pointed to the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) of 2021 as a significant driver of recent construction activity. "We also see increasing opportunities in energy. And then as we look up through the next three years, as I said, we really are optimistic about our continued opportunity to grow."

On the energy front, Ørsted A/S (Fredericia, Denmark) could finish construction later this year on the $650 million Eleven Mile solar complex in Casa Grande, Arizona, which is designed to generate 300 megawatts (MW) from panels provided by LONGi Group (Shaanxi, China) and feature a 300-MW battery energy-storage system (BESS); AECOM is a major consultant on the project. The New York Power Authority hired AECOM to perform engineering services on its $267.4 million rebuild of a transmission line from Glenfield to Massena, which runs 76 miles and is expected to wrap up next spring. Subscribers can read detailed reports on the Casa Grande and Glenfield-to-Massena projects.

Subscribers to Industrial Info's GMI Project and Plant databases can click here for a full list of detailed reports for projects mentioned in this article, and click here for a full list of related plant profiles.

Subscribers can click here for a full list of reports for active and planned projects across the U.S. and Canada involving AECOM.

Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of industrial market intelligence. Since 1983, IIR has provided comprehensive research, news and analysis on the industrial process, manufacturing and energy related industries. IIR's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) platform helps companies identify and pursue trends across multiple markets with access to real, qualified and validated plant and project opportunities. Across the world, IIR is tracking more than 200,000 current and future projects worth $17.8 trillion (USD).