BNSF selects contractor to build new KC-area intermodal facility

February 14, 2001 BNSF has selected T.J. Lambrecht Construction and Walsh Construction as the primary civil contractor to construct its new intermodal facility southwest of Kansas City in Edgerton, Kan.

Also the Kansas
Department of Transportation announced that an agreement for a $35-million
grant to BNSF from the state’s Rail Assistance Program has been finalized.

BNSF’s new 443-acre
intermodal facility will build upon rail’s existing environmental advantages by
setting a new standard for efficiency and low-emissions in the rail industry. The
new intermodal facility will feature wide-span electric cranes that produce
zero emissions on-site and automatic gate systems to speed up the movement of traffic
entering and departing the facility, further improving efficiency and reducing emissions.
The facility will also incorporate an approximate 60-acre conservation corridor
for water quality benefits to the area.

"The Kansas City market
has developed into one of the most important freight transportation hubs in the
Midwest and the nation," said Matthew K. Rose, Chairman, President and Chief
Executive Officer of BNSF. "BNSF’s new intermodal facility will help the region’s
economy grow in a more energy-efficient and environmentally-friendly way by
expanding this market’s capacity to shift even more freight traffic from an all-highway
move to rail."

BNSF intends to begin
construction planning before the end of 2010 and site preparation and facility
construction are expected to commence in 2011.

The contractor has a
commitment with BNSF to hire at least 85 percent of its workforce locally in
the Kansas City area, to hire employees and subcontractors at the prevailing
wage and to use Minority and Disadvantaged Business Enterprises for a significant
amount of the work. The project will generate an estimated 660 construction jobs.

The $35 million grant
from the Rail Assistance Program will be repaid from the state utilities sales
tax generated on the intermodal facility and the separate logistics park development.

"The rail grant not only
helps get this project under way now, it supports a long-term investment that
will create about 8,700 jobs at full build-out and have huge economic returns
for the state," said Kansas Transportation Secretary Deb Miller.