Norfolk Southern Railway: Relocation of Triple Crown Services Entrance and New Parking at Intermodal Facility in Rutherford, PA

On July 30, 2012, Independence Excavating (IX) began construction on an ambitious project with Norfolk Southern Railway Company (NS) for the relocation of the Triple Crown Services Entrance and construction of a new parking area at the Intermodal Facility in Rutherford, PA, which is just north of Harrisburg ‐ the state Capitol.

The purpose of the project is to expand operations for the Triple Crown Services Intermodal Facility, which is essentially a freight terminal where truck trailers (RoadRailers) are assembled onto a train for shipment to another terminal location or disassembled at a terminal for local distribution. Service from terminal to terminal is accomplished with dedicated NS rail service utilizing RoadRailer equipment, which makes Triple Crown Services unique. The steps to assemble a train using this equipment include Triple Crown trailers that ride on rail bogies rather than being lifted up and placed on rail cars. Independence Excavating and our subcontractors are responsible for the complete development of the nearly 20‐acre site. The overall project is comprised of two areas separated by seven sets of railroad tracks.

The first area is the 16‐acre parking lot and entrance located south of the tracks. This area accounts for the majority of the work items, including tree clearing, earthwork, and site utilities, including 12” ‐48” storm sewers up to 24 feet deep (some of which required blasting of hard rock), trench drains, 365 LF pre‐cast retaining wall, concrete flatwork, asphalt paving, extensive electrical work for site lighting and equipment, landscaping, fencing and guardrail. This segment of the project presented some distinctive and challenging work items for the IX team. The first being a 52‐foot long pipe bridge that spanned a heavily travelled road, 13 feet above the road elevation. The bridge consisted of one piece of 36” diameter HDPE pipe threaded inside a single piece of 48” diameter steel casing pipe, insulation around the HDPE pipe to thwart freezing, concrete foundation supports on either side and gabion basket retaining walls. Due to the considerable elevation changes required, the south site also required construction of a 260 foot long, 12 foot high gabion basket wall and a structural concrete wall in very close proximity to an industrial railroad track. Another unique feature requires the complete installation of a modular office building for use by NS and Triple Crown personnel.

The second construction area is a 3‐acre, 24‐foot deep detention basin north of the tracks, which is designed to receive storm drainage from the entrance road and parking area. Due to a layer of extremely hard rock in the basin, the excavation required that the rock be blasted with explosives prior to loading and hauling off site. In order to channel the drainage flow from the south to the north detention basin, the project necessitated the installation of 221 LF of 72” diameter steel casing pipe beneath six sets of railroad tracks, which includes three main tracks for Norfolk Southern’s east and west bound traffic. Since disruption of the rail traffic is not allowed, the design employed the method of boring and jacking to install this pipe 24 feet underneath the tracks and requires that extreme care and safety precautions be taken.

Regarding the project schedule, IX and NS set an aggressive goal of having the parking area and entrance road paved out prior to the conclusion of the 2012 paving season. We are pleased to report that we have met this critical milestone prior to the onset of winter weather. This achievement is attributed to the planning, hard work, long hours and effort of the IX team and our valued subcontractors and suppliers. The cooperation of the NS management team and Michael Baker Jr. Design and Construction Management Group were also instrumental in this accomplishment. The remainder of the work will be ongoing through the winter with completion anticipated in the spring of 2013.

Finally, we would like to express our sincere appreciation to Norfolk Southern for the opportunity to demonstrate our capabilities in the Harrisburg, PA area, which is a new market for our company.