Balfour Beatty, the global infrastructure group, said it was on track to capture a 10 per cent share of its target US water and wastewater market by 2020 after winning an 80m pound contract.

The deal is the third it has struck with the Patapsco Wastewater Treatment Plant in Baltimore County, Maryland.

The company also said it had won its first job in Texas, thereby passing a strategic goal of entering the Southwest water and wastewater market.

The latter deal is a £45m, three year contract at the Galveston Main Water and Wastewater Treatment Plant.

Chief Executive Ian Tyler said the water and wastewater market was a core sector for Balfour Beatty.

"We are looking to expand our capabilities to also compete in desalination and design-build projects in the future," he said.

"It is our intention to expand our successful West Coast and East Coast water and wastewater business into areas of the country which are experiencing high population growth and increased water demands, for example southern California, as well as the Southwest and Southeast regions of the US."

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