Port Commission authorizes rail project contract with Rotschy

VANCOUVER, Wash. – More construction jobs will be on the ground at the Port of Vancouver as early as November as the port and Rotschy, Inc. begin building the West Vancouver Freight Access project task 3 – or unit train facility at the port’s new Terminal 5.

Port Commissioners Nancy Baker, Jerry Oliver and Brian Wolfe yesterday authorized Executive Director Larry Paulson to sign a public works contract with Rotschy, Inc. (Vancouver, Wash.) to build the $14.2 million unit train facility on the site that was formerly home to Alcoa and Evergreen Aluminum’s smelting and extrusion operations.

“This is a major addition to our infrastructure,” Baker, the commission’s president, said. “We have known for a long time that some of our tenants would be stifled from growth and bring more jobs to this community without rail expansion in the port. It is important that we put that property back to work.”

A majority of the project will be funded using federal grants and state appropriations, including the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) and Washington state Freight Mobility Strategic Investment Board (FMSIB) funds that have already been granted to the port.

“This property is deemed critical to the operations of the port,” Oliver said. “There is significant tax revenue benefit for the community from the development of this property.”

The commission authorized a not-to-exceed amount of $14,219,955 (including Washington State Sales Tax). The project will provide rail service to Terminal 5 to encourage future development of the facility by a suitable marine customer. The rail project will also provide increased efficiency to the overall Port of Vancouver rail system by providing a queuing and storage area for rail cars. The project is expected to be complete by June of 2010.

“These are exciting times,” said Monty Edberg, the port’s engineering manager. “This is the big kickoff for our West Vancouver Freight Access Task 3 Terminal 5 rail loop project.”

Other bids were submitted by Tapani Underground (Battle Ground, Wash.), Nutter Corporation (Vancouver, Wash.), Stacy and Witbeck (Portland), and Goodfellow Brothers (Portland).

Construction on the project is set to begin next month, with completion scheduled for June 2010. The project is included in the port’s 2009 budget and the 2010 preliminary budget. The budget for this project is $14.6 million.

Task 3 – the Terminal 5 loop track – is one part of the larger $137 million West Vancouver Freight Access project that, by the end of 2017, will provide the port with a vastly-expanded rail network within the port, and mainline access to and from the BNSF Railroad network along the east-west mainline near Columbia Way.

Rotschy, Inc., also built the Schedule 1A project of the West Vancouver Freight Access project in 2008, which established rail service to LaFarge Cement and Albina Fuels in downtown Vancouver, while allowing for the demolition and removal of a rail spur that bisected the Boise Cascade property and hindered future development on that site.

At a Glance
Who: Port of Vancouver USA Board of Commissioners
What: Authorization of rail    project public works contract
When: Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2009
Where: Port of Vancouver USA
Quick Facts: The rail project will bring, or keep, hundreds of private-sector construction-related jobs to the project … Rotschy, Inc., (Vancouver) was the low bidder of five companies that bid.

About the Port of Vancouver USA

The Port of Vancouver USA, created by Clark County taxpayers in 1912, is one of the major ports on the Pacific Coast. Its competitive strengths include available land, versatile cargo handling capabilities, vast transportation networks, a dependable labor force and an exceptional level of service to its customers and community.

The Port of Vancouver is in the midst of a year full of projects and developments that will lead to vital job creation, economic stimulation and environmental preservation. By diversifying its cargo mix between bulk commodities, breakbulk and project cargos, the port is responsible for job generation and significant contributions to the tax base for not only its own community, but also the state of Washington. Current expansion of the port’s rail system and development of new port industrial and marine properties will bring new jobs – both short term and long term – and the preservation of wetlands, the creation of enhanced wildlife habitat, and make way for more green/sustainable business partners operating from the port. For more information, please visit us at www.portvanusa.com.