Infrastructure company Balfour Beatty has secured a $320m contract to construct a new state prison in Georgia, US.

The development will be delivered on behalf of the Georgia State Financing and Investment Commission together with the Georgia Building Authority and the Georgia Department of Corrections.

This building will contribute to the department's functions to effectively protect and serve the public, as well as its management of offenders by providing a ‘highly efficient’ state-owned system.

The prison is expected to fulfil the changing demands of correctional services for decades by providing accommodation, administration, programming, general and vocational education, medical care, intake, and other services for its 3,000 inmates.

Balfour will serve as the sole construction manager at risk, providing the programming and design of the new jail from its inception while delivering collaborative preconstruction and constructability services throughout the process.

These design and preconstruction services are scheduled to start immediately, with the construction contract itself expected to be awarded in the fourth quarter of this year.

In May, UK-based utility company National Grid granted Balfour a £42m contract to design and build the Little Horsted Substation Grid Supply Point in East Sussex, England.

The two-year contract includes the development of a new 400kV substation and two terminal towers.