Railroad Rehabilitation Project Brings New Business to South Dakota Department of Transportation Office of the Secretary 700 E. Broadway Ave Pierre, SD 57501 Phone: 605-773-3265 FAX: 605-773-3921 Web site: www.sddot.com For Immediate Release: Thursday, July 28, 2011 Contact: Kristi Sandal, Public Information Officer, 605-773-3265 Railroad Rehabilitation Project Brings New Business to South Dakota Pierre, S.D. - In a continuing effort to better serve the citizens of South Dakota, the Department of Transportation recently began a $28 million rehabilitation of the state-owned short line rail track between Mitchell and Chamberlain. The 61.6-mile project fell into place with the sale of the state’s Core Line, new owners of the Dakota Southern Railroad Company, and the commitment from two private businesses to build grain elevators along the route. Bruce Lindholm, DOT program manager for Local Transportation Programs, saw an opportunity to jump-start the project when the U.S. Department of Transportation announced another round of TIGER (Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery) grants last year. He submitted an application and, in October 2010, received word the South Dakota DOT received $16 million for the rehabilitation project. Another $12 million for the project will come from the Dakota Southern Railway Company, the Mitchell to Rapid City Regional Railroad Authority, and the South Dakota Railroad Board. BNSF will provide shuttle service to the new grain elevators while Dakota Southern Railway will provide shorter grain trains. Remove and replace ties Work on the project began in late May at the Mitchell end of the short line with crews working their way west to replace rails, ties and ballast. Carl Michael, project superintendent with Kanza Construction of Topeka, Kansas, said his crew, who he refers to as the “tie gang”, is removing and replacing about 1,500 to 1,700 railroad ties per day. Michael said, “Removing and replacing the wooden ties is very labor intensive work and has been challenging with the high temperatures and humidity.” Ron Radika, inspector with CDI, Inc., engineering firm in Brookings, S.D., walked the entire 61.6 miles of track to mark the ties that needed to be replaced. On this stretch of railroad track, about 3,500 ties per mile are under the rails and Lindholm said that an average of about 1,600 ties per mile will be replaced for a total of 106,000 ties. Railroad ties are rectangular pieces of wood about 102 inches long, 9 inches wide, and 7 inches thick. They serve as a base for the metal rails on top that are held in place using a steel tie plate and spikes. Ties are placed about 19 to 22 inches apart with crews replacing about 1,500 ties per day. All materials used on this project are 100 percent American made. Rail replacement Michael says his tie gang consists of 23 workers right now, and he will increase the number of employees to about 100 people in the next few weeks when he begins hiring workers for the rail replacement phase of the project. The current 65-pound-per- yard rail will be upgraded to 115 pound to 136 pound per yard rail, which will withstand heavier and more frequent rail traffic loaded in the larger jumbo hopper grain cars. The construction crew is also providing an economic boost to several local communities, including White Lake, Plankinton, and Mount Vernon. From 50 to 100 construction crew employees, consultants, and railroad employees are staying in area motels, shopping in retail stores, and eating at local restaurants from the end of May through November. When rail replacement begins, two crews will work simultaneously to lay up to 7,000 feet of rail per day. Additional work includes upgrading switches to handle more grain car traffic. Lindholm says the completion date for the project is December 31, but all major work should be accomplished by the end of November. Once finished, the track will provide an additional route for shuttle trains to carry grain from central South Dakota to destinations east and west. For example, large quantities of corn grown in South Dakota are destined for export markets through Seattle. New grain elevators Because of the rail improvement, two grain elevators will be built near Kimball. Liberty Grain, LLC, owns one elevator, which will be built east of Kimball near the I-90 and S.D. 45 intersection. Construction work will begin this September and finish in September 2012. The new grain elevator will have a 1.5 mile loop track, 2.5 million bushel upright concrete storage, and a 25,000 ton fertilizer plant. Chuck Jepson, owner of Liberty Grain, LLC, said his company will hire 70 to 100 construction workers for more than a year to build the grain elevator and, once complete, the elevator will have 12 to 15 permanent employees. The new elevator can handle 400 to 600 trucks dumping 100,000 bushels an hour each day. Jepson estimated the maximum number of bushels of grain entering the facility in a year at 15 million. During peak harvesting, the facility will see one to two trains a week in addition to the trucks. Trains can haul half a million bushels each and he expects to see 30 trains move through the facility in a year. Savings for producers Jepson estimates that producers hauling grain to the elevator near Kimball will cut about 82 miles in each round trip and save an estimated $1.2 million in fuel cost. These savings, the possibility of higher prices, and access to more markets mean more money for South Dakota farmers, ranchers, and businesses. “By raising the basis by 20 cents a bushel, nearly $3 million in additional producer profits will be realized from decreased transportation costs,” says Jepson. “This is money that goes directly back into the local economy.” Fostering Growth One of South Dakota’s objectives in rail service and planning is to foster safe, efficient, and economical transportation services for moving freight. Since 1992, South Dakota has initiated other rail line rehabilitation projects, including lines from Huron to Yale, Aberdeen to Geneseo Jct., and Canton to Elk Point. The South Dakota Department of Transportation has long recognized the importance of rail transportation as part of an integrated component of the department’s intermodal transportation plan, which is transportation involving more than one form of carrier. The major intermodal transfer for grain in South Dakota is grain carried in trucks transferred to rail cars at elevators, shipped by trains to transloading facilities on the West Coast for overseas markets or to domestic markets such as flour mills.
Yup. It's already well under way. There's been a fair amount of chatter about this on the MILW Yahoo Group. Photos: http://www.dotphoto.com/Go.asp?l=dvoeltz&P=&AID=6415853&T=1
New ties, heavier stick rail, hopefully new ballast (other that dirt) tamp & level....................wonder how much they'll get done before winter sets in. And by the looks of things, they're gonna need a LOT of ties- more that the 106,000 they're calling for. I'm curious- when was this line first built, and from then to now did it ever get new rail, or is this the original item? I'm just happy to see a branch line being rehabbed instead of ripped up.
