GPA Mega Rail

The GPA project connects the Mason Rail Yard with the Chatham Rail Yard. The additional track will increase the terminal storage capacity and allow GPA to build more trains of nearly 10,000 feet in length for both Class-I rail road’s CSX and Norfolk Southern. The approximate value of the electrical portion of this project was $12,000,000. Our work consisted of the installation of a new Switchgear Building # 3, the East and West Rail Bundle electrical distribution areas, the North, South, and Chatham yard compressor buildings, High Mast Lights, TIMS poles, Perimeter Lighting, Camera infrastructure, and rail switches, derailers and crossovers infrastructure.

The Switchgear Building houses Bus # 5 and Bus # 6 switchgear line ups that are 1,200 AMP, 13,800 volts with arc flash protective ducts. These line ups are fed with one mile of newly installed 6-6” duct banks with 4 runs of 3C-1KCM cables. The building has Fire Alarm, Halon Fire Suppression, Battery Racks with Hydrogen Monitoring, ATS with 75KW Generator, Lightning Protection, Fiber-Data Infrastructure, Cable Trays and 3C-#2 15KV Crane Cables.

The East and West Rail Bundle electrical distribution:

• 15KV-480 volts pad mount transformer
• 2000 AMP 480 volts switchgear
• 12 ESL 15KV crane connection cabinets with kirk key interlock
• Fibers-Data infrastructure
• Multiple duct banks with cable to feed the rail switches, derailers, crossovers TIMS and high mast lights.

The North, South and Chatham yard compressor buildings:

• 480-volt distribution to feed multiple air compressors and dryers for charging the trains
• Fiber data infrastructure
• Lightning protection