A San Francisco firm has won a big contract to help rebuild Iraq. The federal government announced today that Bechtel Restoration won a contract to evaluate and repair Iraq´s power, water and sewage systems.

The initial contract is worth $34.6 million dollars. It could be worth up to $680 million dollars over 18 months, though Congress would have to approve the larger amount.

Several Democratic lawmakers have complained that the Bush administration did not allow open competitive bidding, and only invited a small number of firms to submit proposals. The contract was awarded by the U.S. Agency for International Development.