Rocla Concrete Tie company in Fort Pierce has started production to meet the supply needs for All Aboard Florida.
Per Trains:
http://trn.trains.com/news/news-wire/2016/03/31-tie-plant (http://trn.trains.com/news/news-wire/2016/03/31-tie-plant)
Concrete tie plant opens to supply All Aboard Florida
FORT PIERCE, Fla. — A concrete tie factory is opening in this week in Florida just to supply Florida East Coast Railway's All Aboard Florida passenger rail project. The plant in Fort Pierce will use 45 workers in two shifts to produce 800 to 1,000 ties per day for the track work along Florida's Atlantic coast between Miami and West Palm Beach. All Aboard Florida's Brightline passenger service is set to debut in mid-2017.
Rocla Concrete Tie Inc., headquartered in Pueblo, Colo., gave Trains News Wire and All Aboard Florida representatives a tour earlier this month while workers were gearing up for production.
"The initial contract for Florida East Coast is just under one million ties," says Rocla Project Manager Dana Head.
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Workers are installing a second main track where double track had been previously eliminated on the 67 miles between West Palm Beach and Miami. In 2017, the two-track upgrade is set to move north to Cocoa, Fla., and then on an entirely new right-of-way to Orlando International Airport by 2018.
Unlike other Rocla facilities where pre-stressed ties are produced in assembly lines requiring as much as 100,000 square feet of factory space, the Fort Pierce facility uses an Italian "carousel" technology which needs only 15,000 square feet.
"The (compact property) is the number one reason we located here," says independent consultant Craig Worman. "Every railroad has its own tie specifications tailored to the type of trains that are going to be using the track, and with this system it's very easy to change the tie you make because this factory is very flexible."
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Forms move on a highly automated circular conveyer through the various stages of production. A form containing four ties is filled every four minutes, subjected to high-frequency and low-frequency vibrations, naturally cured for 12 hours, and flipped over. The forms circle back empty to begin the process again on the next shift. Eight chambers in the cycle are constantly fed and discharged.
Operations Manager Mike McKercher was able to hire qualified technicians to man the sophisticated machinery by working with a local college, employment agencies, and through job fairs.
"We made a commitment to hire locally, and the people we've selected have mechanical, electrical, pneumatic, and hydraulic skills," says McKercher. "Many are in the 18 to 60 age range and are (in the process of) reinventing themselves with their new positions. The employees are being cross-trained on every job, so they won't spend a whole shift doing the same thing."
Nice. Spin-off economic development and job creation!