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Completion 9: Union Pacific Rochelle Global III Intermodal Facility
Cost: $181 million
Teams for the Rochelle Global III Intermodal
Facility faced the unique problems of constructing on the
prairie.
For instance, the soil was poor for construction because of
its dampness. The blend of soil types - clay, silt and sand
- further complicated the situation.
Because the development encompasses 700 acres on a 1,050-acre
site, about 3 million cu. yds. of soil, much of it wet, were
to be moved. Grading was needed because the site was higher
on the east than the west and also contained hills.
Lime dust was used to dry the soil and allow it to be compacted.
The facility's design took into account the importance of
storm water management.
The site lies in the floodplain of the Kyte River, and the
facility was designed to handle a 100-year ran event, the
terminology for the worst-case flood in a century's time.
Water could not be drained at a rate that would outpace normal
dewatering.
As a result, about 25 drainage pipes lie beneath the facility,
and they are at a downward angle to fee three detention ponds
that are interconnected to work as one.
The level of the Kyte can be detected. Valves keep the water
in the basins when the river is high and drain them when the
waterway is low.
Container Traffic Increase
The center was built because the other Union Pacific Corp.
facilities in the Chicago area for the transfer of cargo are
insufficient to handle the increasing amount of intermodal
traffic.
UP handles more than 2.3 million containers a year, and the
company expects demand to increase about 4 percent a year
for the near term.
Global III is about 2 mi. long and 1 mi. wide and is the largest
in the Midwest and one of the largest in the nation.
About 700,000 tons of asphalt and 80,000 cu. yds. of concrete
make up the yard.
Slightly more than 38 mi. of track go into the facility.
The facility opened to handle about 350,000 train-to-truck
transfers, or lifts, of containers each year. It has the capability
to increase to 700,000 lifts a year.
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Key
Players
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Owner:
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Union Pacific Corp., Omaha, Neb.
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Construction Manager:
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CenterPoint Properties Trust, Oak Brook, Ill.
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Design-Build:
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Ragnar Benson Inc., Park Ridge, Ill.
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Architecture and Engineering:
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Hanson Wilson Inc., Oak Brook, Ill.
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Consultant:
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Neil Palmer & Associates, Elm Grove, Wis.
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Trackwork:
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Delta Railroad Construction Inc., Ashtabula, Ohio
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Earthwork, Asphalt and Paving:
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Rockford Blacktop Construction Co., Loves Park, Ill.
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Concrete:
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James Cape & Sons Co., Hoffman Estates, Ill.
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Electric:
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Morse Electric Inc., Freeport, Ill.
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Bridge:
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Belvidere Construction Co., Belvidere, Ill.
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Site Fence:
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Alliance Fence, Joliet, Ill.
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