Portland awards intermodal contract to BNSF
The Port of Portland on Wednesday awarded a $2.25 million construction contract to BNSF Railway Co. to construct switching and track improvements at the BNSF's A and B rail yard near the port's Terminal 6 container and auto-import facilities.
The work, part of the T-6 Intermodal Third Rail Lead Project, is expected to provide better access to intermodal trains going into and out of the T-6 intermodal yard, while allowing simultaneous switching of automobile and intermodal trains on the existing leads, and create additional areas for staging unit trains.
'Our on-dock intermodal yard at T-6 can handle about 500,000 TEUs annually, and finding customers who need that capacity is one of our highest priorities,' said Sam Ruda, port marine director, in a statement. 'To successfully market this asset we needed to develop a dedicated intermodal rail lead providing both BNSF and Union Pacific Railroad with improved access between their mainlines and T-6.'
The port said it would put out a competitive bid contract later this fall for constructing the actual third lead, which entails building 7,500 feet of new track. The total cost of the project is $6 million. In 2004, the port received a $850,000 grant from the State of Oregon Industrial Rail Spur Program Fund for the project, and the port will fund the remaining cost from its general fund. The project is expected to begin in December and be completed by July 2007. Work will be scheduled to avoid interference with facility operations at T-6.