Consulting engineers help P3 consortium hired to build 18 schools in Alberta

The government of Alberta has contracted with a consortium of private engineering and other companies to design, build, finance and maintain 18 new schools in Calgary and Edmonton.
The public-private partnership (P3) project is already under way, with construction having started on six schools.
The contract for the schools went to BBPP Alberta Schools Limited who bid the lowest price at $634 million. The contract will see the consortium maintain the schools for a 30 year term.
BBPP Alberta Schools is majority owned by Babcock & Brown Public Partnerships Ltd., an international investment firm that is listed on the London stock exchange. The consortium also involves Graham Design Builders, Bird Design-Build Limited, Barr Ryder Architects and Interior Designers, Honeywell Canada, and GEC Architecture.
A.D. Williams Engineering is doing the mechanical, electrical and civil engineering for the schools. Structural engineer is Protostatix Engineering.
The schools are needed in new subdivisions outside the city centres. The Alberta government has plans for a second phase of an additional 14 new schools in growth areas of Edmonton and Calgary.
Critics of the P3 schools project argue that the $634 million figure is too low. The province says they are saving on the cost of doing the work in a traditional manner, which it estimates would have cost $752 million.