Georgia Port Authority selected RailComm as the Yard Management System provider for the new Port of Savannah Multi-Modal Connector. In a competitive bid, the Georgia Port Authority awarded the yard management system for the rail facilities associated with the expansion of the port to RailComm.
RailComm’s yard management system will allow for remote control of 83 powered rail switches and 38 powered derail devices. From a either a centralized office location or from a remote touchscreen kiosk switches can be remotely thrown individually or lined as part of a route by either a yardmaster or by work crews on the ground. The yard control system will allow crews to move intermodal cars carrying containers through the facility without manually throwing switches and even queue a set of routes as needed to assemble and disassemble trains on the appropriate tracks.
As a result of the Panama Canal expansion completed in 2015, much larger container vessels are capable of transiting to ports on the east coast to off load and on-load intermodal container cargo. After many years of planning and approvals by both Federal and State agencies the Savannah Harbor Expansion Project (SHEP) was begun to deepen the Savannah River to accommodate much larger vessels. The economic value to the state of Georgia from this port expansion has been estimated to be USD 84 billion and supporting more than 369,000 jobs.
Given significant increased volume of containers in and out of the Savannah port, there will also be an expansion of the rail facilities supporting the port. This will allow for a much larger percentage of containers using rail, a much more efficient and environmentally friendly way to transport cargo in and out of the port.
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