With two main rail lines – one running north to south and the other running east to west – the new $74-million Union Pacific Railroad San Antonio Intermodal Facility serves as a hub for rail traffic to Mexico and the West Coast. The scope of the project included 1,300 container parking stalls and a 200-acre transfer yard for moving containers from trucks to trains and vice versa. To handle rail traffic flow, approximately 20 mi of railroad track were laid and a bridge supported by 10, 198-ft-long girders for trucks to access IH-35 was constructed. At the same time, a diesel and gasoline fuel system was installed and a number of structures were constructed including: a 10,000-sq-ft maintenance building for onsite repairs, a 3,200-sq-ft gate building/control building for security and a crew shack for personnel. A wastewater treatment plant with six 25,000-gal storm surge tanks and two 10,000-gal reclaimed oil tanks were also built. The site totaled 320 acres.

Working on a site with trains passing through was a challenge in itself, but constructing a bridge over a live rail line was even more difficult. Rail outages were scheduled to stop train activity long enough for project team members to set beams for a new bridge on the site, but only for four-hour increments. SpawGlass coordinated activities with specialty contractors prior to the four-hour windows so no time was lost. With a good plan in hand, all daily bridge work was completed as scheduled.

Key Players

Submitted by: SpawGlass
Owner: Union Pacific, Omaha, Neb.
Developer: First Industrial Realty Trust Inc., Addison
Broker: 4M Realty Co., San Antonio
Design-build contractor: SpawGlass, Selma
Architect: TranSystems, Schaumberg, Ill.
Mechanical contractor: Aerohead Mechanical, Spring Branch