Location
Ash Fork, AZ
Owner
Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway
Project Size
$2M
Details
SEMA’s work for Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad at the Ash Fork Arizona Yard was a step in the railroad’s overall transportation plan to modernize and increase freight capacity to Phoenix. SEMA Texas provided a structures crew, SEMA Rocky Mountain provided an earthwork crew, and SEMA California provided management to accomplish, the grading, drainage and retaining wall improvements on the project. The Ash Fork project allowed for improved train flow on the subdivision with future additions of signals to the rail line. This subdivision is part of the eventual intermodal expansion BNSF plans to implement in Phoenix, which will allow BNSF to further meet the growing transportation demands for movement of goods and services throughout Arizona.
Major Achievements
With a worldwide pandemic looming in the first quarter of 2020, SEMA was able to quickly finish the contract scope. A SEMA Texas structures crew constructed the project’s retaining wall while a SEMA Colorado earthwork concurrently placed subballast, starting at a location further away and building towards the retaining wall location. By the time pandemic impacts began to increase in Northern Arizona in early April 2020, and due to the concurrent construction planning, SEMA was demobilized and done with the work.
Savings
SEMA was able to successfully negotiate a change order with BNSF to improve the access roads present at their Ash Fork, Arizona Yard. SEMA & BNSF worked together to select an alternative supplier for less expensive aggregate base material than in the original contract scope. SEMA’s road base placement work improved vehicle access for BNSF personnel throughout the right-of-way, allocated BNSF funds in a cost-effective manner, and increased scope and profit for SEMA.
