Granite Construction has commenced building operations on a new double rail siding near the South Terminal at the Port of Everett, US.
The new 3,300ft double rail siding is set to support international cargo movement.
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Granite Construction was awarded a $3.4m contract by the Port Commission in February to complete the second phase of the Port’s terminal rail enhancements, in order to increase regional rail freight mobility and improve the port’s freight-handling capacity.
The development received a federal grant under the TIGER programme, which provides funding for transportation infrastructure upgrades throughout the US.
The railway construction project is expected to increase the port’s existing on-terminal rail footprint to 12,500ft from the current 9,200ft.
It will also see the installation of a connection to provide BNSF railway easier ingress and egress to the Port's shipping facilities. The new rail line project will enable the port authority to transport goods from ship to shore easily.
The port authority anticipates that the usage of rail service for cargo shipments can reduce at least 429 million commercial truck miles off of the local roads and highways.
Construction on the project is slated for completion in November, and is expected to retain and help increase the port’s 13,614 jobs, as well as create nearly 70 construction jobs.
The Port of Everett is situated nearly 25 miles from Seattle, and supports approximately $30bn worth of US exports annually.
Image: The new 3,300ft double rail siding will support international cargo movement. Photo: courtesy of Port of Everett.
