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Industrial Park Expansion Makes News in Big Spring

TGB Group provided engineering design and construction management for the project

TGB Group is in the news again – this time in Big Spring, Texas, where the company is providing design and construction management services for a major rail industrial park expansion.

The project, launched by the Big Spring Economic Development Corporation (BSEDC), is big news in this city of approximately 27,000. A July 9, 2018 article on NewsWest9.com based in Midland, Texas, pointed out that the “[railroad] track is the road to expansion for the City of Big Spring.”

The McMahon-Wrinkle Air and Industrial Park expansion will involve laying an additional 8,000 feet of track and extending the main line track to allow access to properties near the park.

In a video and accompanying news article, BSEDC Executive Director Terry Wegman said, “This is a continuation of almost six miles of track that we’ve done over the last several years to accommodate existing business and help attract new business to the airport.”

Services TGB has been responsible for during the expansion at the former WWII airfield include topographic survey and construction staking; complete engineering design; preparation of necessary forms to obtain FAA, air park and railroad approvals; and construction administration. You can read more about this project in an article we wrote in October of last year.

TGB President Mike Murphy, who is overseeing his company’s work on the project, told NewsWest9, “The idea is to bring more customers to Big Spring and make them feel comfortable that we have everybody in the room they need to build their project.”

This is just one of many TGB projects focused on enhancing the economic climate in cities throughout Texas and in nearby states.

July 26, 2018
News on Our Big Spring McMahon Industrial Park Transload Yard Project

Where we are in this multifaceted project

TGB Group has completed surveying and engineering work for the Big Spring Mahon-Wrinkle Industrial Park Transload Yard, a project that began earlier in the year.

We are currently working on the construction of the transload yard with Big Spring Economic Development Corporation. Railworks Track Systems and DIFFCO, LLC were the selected rail and civil contractors for the project for which TGB Group is providing construction management services. So far, we have completed the ditching and surfacing and are beginning to fill the ditches with riprap. TGB team member Logan Ortiz P.E. is performing construction observation duties for the project. He is on-site at the industrial park every week, ensuring that the contractors build everything according to client-approved engineering documents.

Riprap

Riprap is essentially chunks of rock approximately one to two feet in diameter that are used to prevent erosion. Rocks typically used as riprap include granite, limestone and sometimes concrete. Riprap is particularly important to fill ditches near railroad yards to prevent water from eventually eroding the dirt beneath the track. If erosion is allowed to happen, a void will develop within the dirt under the track. As trains pass over this void, the railroad track will bend and “pump” into the dirt. The only way to fix this void is to have a railroad contractor come and fill in the void, which is an expensive and time-consuming process.

Drone Footage

Jake Cooper, TGB’s business development manager, took some drone footage of the construction in the transload yard. The first video is footage for the entire project from the south end, to the north end.

This second video is closer footage from about the middle, to the north end.

To learn more about our work with the Big Spring McMahon Industrial Park Transload Yard, please contact:

Mike Murphy, president, TGB Group: (832) 748-7603

June 24, 2018
Industrial park rail expansion scheduled at the McMahon-Wrinkle Air and Industrial Park in Big Spring, Texas.

Industrial Park Rail Expansion in Big Spring, Texas
TGB Group will provide design plans and construction management at this historic airpark

TGB Group has been retained by the Big Spring Economic Development Corporation to design and manage construction of an industrial park rail expansion for the Big Spring Railroad at the McMahon-Wrinkle Air and Industrial Park in Big Spring, Texas.

The project at this city-owned, public-use airfield and industrial park will include the laying of more than 8,000 feet of track to allow for the expansion of storage and switching capacity of the Big Spring Rail System. Plans also call for extending the main line track so that properties adjacent to the park can be accessed.

Key services TGB is providing for the industrial park rail expansion include:
- Topographic survey and construction staking
- Complete engineering design
- Preparation of necessary forms to obtain FAA, air park and railroad approvals
- Construction administration
Industrial park rail expansion scheduled at the McMahon-Wrinkle Air and Industrial Park in Big Spring, Texas.

A former WWII airfield

Operated as Big Spring Army Airfield by the U.S. Army during World War II, the Big Spring McMahon-Wrinkle Airport occupies about 2,200 acres of land and features two runways and a 4,000-square-foot air terminal. Primary activities at the airport include recreational flying, agricultural spraying, corporate aviation and flight instruction. The facility manages the Hangar 25 Air Museum, hosts various air shows and was the location of the 2007 Hang Gliding World Championships.

Bidding, contractor selection and our new drone

After our design plans are completed and approved, the TGB team will provide bidding and contractor selection services for the project. We will also engage in comprehensive management of construction activities to ensure that all specifications are adhered to and that the project is completed according to time schedules.

Assisting us in construction management will be our new Phantom 4 drone that will provide high-definition photos and video of work activities during various building phases and at the completion of the project. The addition of this drone to our arsenal of tools allows us to bring unmatched accuracy of visual data to all survey activities.

Construction for the project is slated to begin March 1 and last approximately four months.

To learn more about the industrial park rail expansion at the McMahon-Wrinkle Air and Industrial Park or to get further specs on this project, please contact:

Mike Murphy, president, TGB Group: (832) 748-7603
January 17, 2018
San Jacinto River & Rail Park
Rail in Houston, Texas

TGB Group was hired by W&P Development Corporation of Texas to provide civil design services for a Houston industrial park development served by the Union Pacific Railroad and BNSF Railway. Our tasks included design for approximately 12,000 feet of railroad track, remote power turnouts adjacent to a Class I railroad main line, and more than 100,000 feet of additional track inside the industrial park.

Rail design

The rail portion of the project included nearly 75 custom Vossloh turnouts with radar and rail car identification technology to provide exact, positive location information of more than 4,000 cars that eventually will be held in the park. This is a first-of-its-kind yard in the United States and will make locating customers’ cars when released a much more efficient process.

Special consideration was taken for design and operational integrity where the industrial rail met the proposed Class I railroad. TGB Group analyzed the options of wood, steel and concrete ties to determine which would be the most economical while keeping in mind long-term maintenance for the client.

In addition to the rail, there was an 800-plus-acre site design that called for a drainage plan with more than six miles of ditches, one and a half miles of access roads, more than 150,000 cubic yards of dirt work, utility design and mitigation, as well as three road crossings.

Pipelines

As many in the industry know, throughout the Houston area there are buried pipelines that must be considered in any project that includes digging. In our project, there were two water wells that required capping, a 24-inch water line that had to be encased, and three petroleum company pipelines to address. One of these was a 24-inch crude line that was deep enough to not require encasing. The other two were much shallower. TGB Group worked with the client and the pipeline owners to arrange for the lines to be encased so that railroad tracks could safely be installed over them.

Other project elements TGB Group managed included:
- Topographic and ALTA surveys
- Environmental site assessments
- Geotechnical investigation
- Sub-surface utility investigation
- Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plan
Additionally, we worked with the Army Corps of Engineers on a Wetlands Jurisdictional Determination.

Approvals and project launch

The project was designed according to the Class I railroad’s industrial design standards and the American Railway Engineering Maintenance of Way Association guidelines. After handing over the initial design, TGB Group worked closely with the client and representatives from the short line railroad and the Class I railroad during the review process to receive approval.

The site plan was submitted to the Class I railroad for review and approval in the spring of 2017. The design was completed in summer of 2017. The developer required a fast-track design schedule for the project, and all timelines were met or exceeded, allowing construction to begin at the specified time.

If you’d like to know more about TGB Group’s involvement in this project, please contact:

Mike Murphy, president, TGB Group: (832) 748-7603
Brad Sullivan, W&P Development: bsullivan@sjrr.us
October 20, 2017
Railroad-Served Fertilizer Distribution center

Location: North Texas

TGB Group was hired by Crop Production Service, LLC (CPS) and Texas North Western Railway (TXNW) to provide the civil design for a new 27-acre industrial site for a fertilizer distribution center in the railway’s new Panhandle Logistics Park. The design would include a 17,500-square-foot dry fertilizer storage building, a 12,500-square-foot liquid/chemical storage building, and a 22,000-square-foot seed packaging warehouse building. Designs also were needed for an application building, a maintenance building and an office building.

Drainage, access and other project specs

The site called for a layout to connect to the Texas Northwestern Railway, a short line railroad located in the Texas Panhandle. The site design included grading and drainage for three storage tanks with capacities from 300,000 gallons to one million gallons and room for additional tanks. Also needed were two industrial entrances off a county road, a commercial truck scale and fencing for the entire property.

TGB’s duties included developing plans for site grading, stormwater detention and erosion control in accord with CPS and TXNW requirements and the Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plan. We also created designs for containment and more than 3,300 feet of railroad track for up to 12 cars at a time.

Special considerations had to be made for coordination with the short line railroad to ensure that the new spur met its standards. Railroad operations and proper drainage were maintained at all times throughout the project. To ensure that the work would be completed on-time and on-budget, our team coordinated site development activities with multiple contractors that provided various key services for the project.

Completion and approval

Our design was completed in the summer of 2017, after which the developer and short line railroad reviewed and approved our site plan. The project was designed to local standards; the rail design met American Railway Engineering & Maintenance-of-Way Association guidelines and standards. The developer required a fast-track design schedule for the project, and all timelines were met or exceeded in order to start construction that summer.

If you’d like to know more about TGB Group’s involvement in this project, please contact:

Mike Murphy, president, TGB Group: (832) 748-7603
Clayton Kendall, TNW Corporation, ckendall@tnw-rr.com

October 19, 2017