Sievert Electric Awarded $14.6 Million Army Deal for Bonneville Dam Crane
The Forest Park, Illinois, electrical contractor received a firm-fixed-price contract for Bonneville Spillway gantry crane rehabilitation, work valued at $14.6 million with a cumulative face value of $21.6 million and completion set for Aug. 3, 2026.
FOREST PARK, ILLINOIS — Sievert Electric Service and Sales Co., a veteran-owned electrical contractor based near Chicago, received a $14.6 million Army contract to rehabilitate a gantry crane at the Bonneville Dam spillway in Oregon, as announced on war.gov.
The firm-fixed-price award carries a total cumulative face value of $21.6 million. Fiscal 2026 Bonneville Power Administration Capital funds of $14.6 million backed the award. Two contractors bid over the internet. Crews will perform the work in Cascade Locks, Oregon, with an estimated completion date of Aug. 3, 2026.
C. A. Sievert, a German-trained electrical apprentice, founded the company in 1913 in Chicago’s German section around Ashland, Milwaukee and Division, according to sievertelectric.com. The firm expanded into electrical construction in the late 1950s and became the electrical contractor of choice for many of downtown Chicago’s concrete high rises. It moved to Forest Park in 1987, close to O’Hare Airport, according to sievertelectric.com. The company has served as an authorized distributor for hoist and overhead crane products for over 75 years, according to sievertelectric.com. That experience aligns with the Bonneville task, where a gantry crane lifts and positions the spillway gates that regulate water flow at the Columbia River facility.
The rehabilitation matters to a region that depends on the dam for electricity and river navigation. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers operates the Bonneville project, and the Bonneville Power Administration markets the hydropower it generates across the Pacific Northwest. Ratepayers and shippers stand to benefit from restored equipment reliability, while a lapse in maintenance would risk delays at one of the Columbia River’s key water-control structures.
The deal illustrates how federal power funds flow to private contractors to keep aging dam hardware operational. Households and businesses served by the Bonneville grid rely on that equipment to move water past turbines and through the spillway during high-flow seasons.
This marks the first contract awarded to Sievert Electric in 2026, bringing the company’s total contract value for the year to $14.6 million. It ranks as the 17th Department of Defense contract awarded in Illinois during 2026, one of 14 defense contracts issued nationwide on August 3, 2026.
The company has handled federal dam work before. Sievert Electric lists the Ozark Powerhouse and the Norfork Dam, both for the Corps of Engineers Little Rock District, among its featured government projects, according to sievertelectric.com. Its record contract stands at $49,500,000, larger than the Bonneville award.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Portland, Oregon, serves as the contracting activity under contract number W9127N-26-C-A029. The Corps will oversee performance through the estimated completion date of Aug. 3, 2026. No date has been announced for a follow-on decision beyond that milestone.
The Bonneville Dam has anchored Pacific Northwest power for generations. Construction began in 1934 under a New Deal public-works push, and crews dedicated the dam in 1937 as one of the first major federal projects on the Columbia River. Its powerhouses and navigation locks reshaped commerce along a river that once forced barges to portage around rapids. The dam’s early builders set a template for federal hydropower that still funds crews like Sievert Electric today.
This contract represents the 1st contract awarded to Sievert Electric Service and Sales Co., in 2026, bringing the company’s total contract value for the year to $14,620,737. It is also the 17th Department of Defense contract awarded in Illinois during 2026. While this is not the largest contract ever awarded to Sievert Electric Service and Sales Co., whose record stands at $49,500,000, it is notable within the Army portfolio. Specifically, it falls between the 2026 Army portfolio’s year-to-date minimum of $9,051,490 and maximum of $53,859,843,289. Overall, this award was announced among 14 Department of Defense contracts issued nationwide on August 3, 2026.
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