b'CARGOGEG 93and United; plus active cargo activity from FedEx, UPS andKingsley explains. Shortly after that, we competed to win the Amazons Prime Air. By the end of 2022, passenger numbers hadsecond phase of the transload project, comprising three initial nearly returned to 2019 levels. Cargo numbers took a slight diptracks, cargo handling and truck circulation. Part of the proposal between 2018 and 2019, but then started growing. And growing.included a functional place for trains to unload and for trucks to And growing.transfer their loads to the trains.These days, GEG is quickly approachingKrauter and his team liked what they saw and began building 80,000 tons of cargo per year. Fortunately,support with local, state and federal officials and related agencies airport officials foresaw the need for ato put the proposed facility on airport land. If you look at what multimodal facility long before this latestthe state and county were trying to do before the airport got growth surge. When Chief Executive Officerengaged, the sites were very limited, he reasons. Here, the Larry Krauter came to the airport in 2011,space is unlimited. We can meet any demands that need to be evaluating the idea of a transload facility wasserviced in the future, and thats what makes it special. We have already a few years in process. The state ofLARRY KRAUTER the ability to expand, including the ability to assemble unit trains, Washington had commissioned preliminarywhich are favored by a lot of the rail operators. research to determine if a rail-truck facility should be built on aUnit trains transport one type of freight in one type of car to county-owned spur line located about seven miles from a majora single destination, so they are allowed to bypass intermediary BNSF rail line.rail yards and run directly from point to point. This special type of Encouraged by the results, Krauter and his team began atrain can include more than 90 rail cars.strategic plan to develop the airports surplus property andOnce GEG secured the green light to determine the infrastructure needed to support a multimodalproceed with the project on airport land, center. The prime prospects for users were logistics, advancedthe administration team needed a good manufacturing and aerospace businesses. project manager to help bring it all together. The studies had evaluated four sites, but what was interestingLisa Corcoran, director of Planning and to me was that none of them were at the airport, Krauter relates.Development, recruited Colin Hayden for the All of them were terribly constrained, each from eight to 28role in 2021. Hayden had previously worked acres in size. My idea was to bring a bigger vision for integratingfor a seaport in Washington and also hadCOLIN HAYDENthe transport modes.The project team recognized that GEG had several significant assets: about 6,400 acres of land, proximity to Fairchild Air Force Base and access to I-90 via four interchanges. Its unique combination of commercial air service, a nearby rail line, excellent highway access and lots of available property added up to a big potential win.KPFF Consulting Engineers got involved with the project in 2018 when GEG hired it to design the trunk rail extension, a grant-funded section ofCUSTOM TENSION FABRIC BUILDINGStrack near the airportsSTEVE KINGSLEY SUPERIOR PERFORMANCE. property. KPFF Principal Steve Kingsley says that most of the firmsRAPID INSTALLATION.railway projects have been with marine ports because its unusual for airports to embark upon this type of endeavor. When plansFully Customizable Concept to Installationfor the trunk rail extension were in place,Fast-Track Construction Patented Attachment Systemthe airport contracted KPFF to develop aIn-House Engineering Relocatableproposal about how to develop a world-class transload facility on its surplus property located near the county-owned spur.Call for more information, or to receive a quote We created a master plan to guide the877.259.1528| LEGACYBUILDINGSOLUTIONS.COMairports decision-making for development, AirportImprovement.comMay | June 2023'