NCDOT celebrates groundbreaking for rail project. Photo: courtesy of NCDOT.
The North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) hosted a groundbreaking ceremony for an $11.6 million line upgrade project for the North Carolina & Virginia Railroad (NCVA). The ceremony was held at Nucor Steel in Hertford County and was attended by North Carolina Transportation Secretary Nick Tennyson, U.S. Representative G.K. Butterfield, along with officials from NCVA, Genesee & Wyoming and Nucor Corporation.
NCVA serves multiple customers in Northampton, Bertie, and Hertford counties in North Carolina, and Southampton County, Virginia. The railroad interchanges with CSX Transportation, Inc. at Boykins, Va., and runs 52 miles to Nucor Steel, NCVA’s largest customer.
Secretary Tennyson said, “This project is a great example of what North Carolina is doing to increase freight capacity, improve efficiency, and enhance safety on railroads in the state. It is also a major step toward fulfilling Governor Pat McCrory’s goal of leveraging our infrastructure to create economic development opportunities.”
“More than 60 percent of the Nucor plant’s annual production ships by rail, which means the upgrading of this line is critical to their operations and their continued ability to compete in today’s global market and support the economy of this area,” continued Tennyson. “Thanks to this project, NCVA will be able to ship heavier loaded rail cars at faster speeds, which is key to serving industries based here and opening the door to new economic opportunities for this region.”
The railroad is operating at 10 mph over much of its line and is only able to load cars to 270,000 pounds gross weight. This project will allow NCVA to ship rail cars loaded to 286,000 pounds gross weight. State officials noted that increasing freight rail capacity helps reduce the amount of goods that need to be shipped by truck.
The project is scheduled to be complete by the end of 2019. NCDOT secured half of the funding through a federal grant from the Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery program. The balance is covered by an investment of $3 million from NCVA and $2.8 million of state funds.