The Port of New Orleans Board of Commissioners awarded a $13.3-million construction contract to Hard Rock Construction LLC for the Mississippi River Intermodal Terminal improvement project. Hard Rock Construction, of Metairie, La., was the lowest of eight bidders.
President Obama spoke at the Port of Wilmington in Delaware on July 17 to announce a new executive action to create the Build America Investment Initiative, a government-wide initiative to increase infrastructure investment and economic growth by engaging with state and local governments and private sector investors to encourage collaboration, expand the market for public-private partnerships (PPPs) and put federal credit programs to greater use.
The New Jersey Transit Board of Directors approved a $2.019-billion operating budget that holds fares stable for the fifth consecutive fiscal year and a $1.203-billion capital program that supports continued investments in infrastructure and equipment to maintain the system in a state of good repair for Fiscal Year 2015.
Work to expand the rail unloading capacity of the West Coast Reduction facility at Port Metro Vancouver has been completed.
Global Partners LP (Global) and Kansas City Southern (KCS) will develop a unit train terminal in Port Arthur, Texas.
Watco has installed two to general manager positions at Great Northwest Railroad (GRNW) and the company’s Wallula switching site.
Stacy Grant has accepted the position of general manager for the GRMW. Grant will be responsible for supervising daily operations, specifically focusing on improving productivity, efficiency and safety. He has been with Watco Transportation Services since September of 2004 when he began working as a conductor for the Palouse River and Coulee City Railroad (PCC). He then served as a trainmaster on the GRNW before being named assistant general manager of the GRNW and the PCC.
Travis Chamberlain has accepted the position of general manager for the Wallula switching site. Chamberlain will be responsible for the day-to-day operations of the site and will report directly to the director of Switching Operations. His duties will be to coordinate efforts between all railroad departments and to achieve performance goals with optimum safety, economy, efficiency and effectiveness, ensuring profitability of all departments.
Chamberlain previously worked in the paper industry at Boise for 11 years before joining the Watco Team in May of this year.
The Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority on July 2 issued a Notice of Recommended Award to Hensel Phelps Construction Co. of Chantilly, Va., to design and build the rail yard and maintenance facility for Phase 2 of the Dulles Corridor Metrorail Project.
Great Sandhills Terminal Ltd. (GST) Board of Directors and Canadian Wheat Board (CWB) have entered into an agreement where CWB will acquire all of the issued and outstanding common shares of GST for cash consideration of CA$581.98 (US$542.80) per share.
Southton Rail Yard, a 300-acre dual rail-serve facility in San Antonio, Texas, designed for transloading energy-related products, celebrated its grand opening June 11.
Watco Terminal and Port Services hired Jeff Lederer as general manager at the Pecos Valley Southern Railway (PVSR) in Pecos, Texas. Lederer will be succeeding Mike Salts, who will be returning to the South Kansas and Oklahoma Railroad (SKOL).
Connecticut Gov. Dannel Malloy, Connecticut Department of Transportation (ConnDOT) Commissioner James Redeker and other state and local officials on June 5 led a tour of the New Haven Rail Yard, which is undergoing a $1.15-billion, multi-year upgrade and expansion.
Florida East Coast Railway (FEC) will open its new Intermodal Container Transfer Facility (ICTF) adjacent to Port Everglades in the Fort Lauderdale, Fla., area, with a grand opening ceremony on July 14, 2014.
U.S. Rep. Andy Barr (R-KY-06) joined representatives from R.J. Corman Railroad Group and the National Railroad Construction and Maintenance Association (NRC) for a tour of R.J. Corman Railroad Group’s rail yard in Lexington, Ky.
Union Pacific celebrated the grand opening of its New Mexico rail facility May 28, which officially opened April 1. The 2,200-acre site will create value for UP customers and produce greater logistics efficiencies along Union Pacific’s critical Sunset Route, the rail line running 760 miles from El Paso, Texas, to Los Angeles, Calif.
CSX said it has reached a major milestone in the construction of its $100-million intermodal terminal in Salaberry-de-Valleyfield, QB, Canada with the official opening of its mainline leading directly to the Perron Industrial and Maritime Park.
Ashcroft Terminal, an inland transloading facility in British Columbia that is a member of the Canadian government’s Asian Pacific Corridor, completed an expansion project designed to improve the flow of goods by rail and give local industry a competitive edge in international trade.
Michael Baker Jr., Inc., an engineering unit of Michael Baker International, has been awarded a Professional Services Agreement by CSX Intermodal Terminals, Inc. (CSXIT) to provide construction management and inspection services for its Trans-Shipment Terminal Expansion Project in North Baltimore, Ohio. Additionally, Baker will provide engineering review services during the construction phases of projects. CSXIT has issued Baker the first work order under this agreement. CSXIT is expanding the original terminal, completed in 2011, due to increased intermodal container traffic.
A plan to develop a new intermodal terminal that was to be served by CSX in Harborcreek Township, Erie County, Pa., has stalled following negative community reaction to the project.
The application period for the sixth round of the U.S. Department of Transportation’s (USDOT) Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) grants recently ended. Once again, USDOT says the request for funds far exceeds what is available. The 797 eligible applications, compared to 585 in 2013, request $9.5 billion, 15 times the $600 million set aside for the program.
The U.S. Senate Environment and Public Works Committee (EPW) released its proposed bill text for the MAP-21 Reauthorization Act (S. 2322). The six-year legislation plans to maintain highway program funds at current levels plus inflation.