Contrack International Inc., which this week became the first major U.S. company to withdraw from Iraq reconstruction work because of rising violence there, has won a $63.9 million U.S. Army building deal in Afghanistan, the Pentagon announced late on Thursday. The new contract involves design and construction of regional brigade facilities for the Afghan army. Contrack was awarded the deal Tuesday after 10 bids had been sought by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on Oct. 27, and five were received, the Pentagon said. Arlington, Virginia-based Contrack had been running a $325 million deal overseeing a consortium rebuilding roads, bridges, railways and airports in Iraq before pulling out this week, citing rising violence and resultant security costs. Neither the Army Corps of Engineers nor the company returned phone calls seeking comment on the new work. The company has said it dropped out of the Iraq job by mutual agreement with U.S. officials "because the original scope of work that was envisioned could not be executed in a cost effective manner under the present circumstances." --More 2309 Local Time 2009 GMT
