Georgia Ports Authority’s Mega Rail Project: Increasing Intermodal Capacity While Maintaining Intermodal Operations

The Georgia Ports Authority’s (GPA) Mega Rail Project, located within the Garden City Terminal in Garden City, Georgia, has brought about unique civil engineering and port planning challenges. GPA has seen unprecedented growth over the last decade, which charged the existing on dock rail facilities with maintaining a level of throughput that stressed both the existing rail infrastructure and surrounding community. However, the solution, the Mega Rail Project, had to be constructed through what has become the fastest growing container terminal in the United States, while maintaining existing terminal operations. In addition, the port facility had to accommodate simultaneous operations for both CSX Transportation and Norfolk Southern, both of which are Class I railroads. This paper will provide an engineering perspective on the planning and implementation of one of the largest on-dock rail facilities in the United States. GPA had two independent intermodal facilities, each providing service to one of the two Class I railroads, respectively. Because each facility was operating near capacity, GPA wanted to increase overall intermodal capacity and modernize the intermodal operations to prepare for future growth. The redevelopment and modernization included combining the two intermodal facilities into a single 130-acre facility, installing 20 mi of new rail, constructing two nine-track rail bundles, installing 10 rail-mounted gantry cranes (RMGs), spanning nine tracks with five RMGs in each bundle, and moving switching operations onto the terminal to accommodate six trains up to 10,000 ft in length. Understanding terminal operations, phasing construction, involving stakeholders, and communicating effectively were all key elements for a successful project implementation.