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• A joint venture led by construction firm Odebrecht won a $360 million contract from the Miami-Dade Board of County Commissioners to complete the first phase of Miami Metrorail’s three-phase Orange Line expansion. To be completed within three years, the 2.4-mile Airport Connection will connect the Miami Intermodal Center at Miami International Airport to Metrorail’s Earlington Heights station. The contract calls for the joint venture — which also includes The Tower Group and Community Asphalt — to build three substations, and a passenger and bus station, and upgrade or construct several connecting roadways.

• Transportation consulting firm Steer Davies Gleave has acquired the former transportation planning practice of Charles River Associates (CRA International), a consulting firm that performs demand, revenue, planning and policy studies for rail, urban transit, aviation, roads, tunnels and bridges. The acquisition strengthens Steer Davies Gleave’s presence in North America, enabling the London-based firm to pursue more projects in the United States and Canada, the company said. The team acquired from CRA will collaborate with Steer Davies Gleave’s New York and Vancouver, British Columbia, offices.

• Andrew won a contract from Alcatel-Lucent Switzerland to provide radio frequency coverage in Switzerland’s Gotthard Base Tunnel, the world’s longest railway tunnel. A division of CommScope Inc., Andrew will supply its ION™-M multi-band, multi-operator fiber distributed antenna system, and RADIAX® radiating cables to provide wireless coverage throughout the tunnel.

• Brandt Road Rail Corp. has named Erin Found territory manager for the western U.S. Most recently a new truck sales representative with Frontier Peterbilt Sales Ltd., Found previously was a journeyman heavy equipment technician and an engine specialist.

• CIT Rail, which provides leasing and financing services to the rail industry, has appointed Matt Franko vice president of railcar leasing. He will be responsible for account development and management in the Midwest. Franko most recently was assistant VP of sales and marketing-agriculture and mineral products for Kansas City Southern Railway Co. He previously served KCSR as a director of sales and marketing and was a merchandiser in commodity procurement and logistics management with CHS Inc.

• Knichel Logistics appointed Sydnee Hogan as an account executive in the Chicago area, effective Feb. 2. She has four years of experience as an operations manager in the over-the-road (OTR) and less-than-truckload (LTL) sectors. Knichel Logistics also recently named David Curto and Jan Lukac account executives in the Chicago area. Curto has two years of sales experience at a third-party logistics company and Lukac has more than 25 years’ experience in the transportation field. Knichel Logistics manages OTR, LTL, intermodal and rail shipments.

• Railpower Technologies Corp. announced that Jolene Molitoris has resigned from the company's board. She recently was appointed director of the Ohio Department of Transportation. Molitoris had been a Railpower board member since May 2005. Railpower also announced it will reduce its workforce 37 percent from 134 to 84 employees.