SC Ports rail yard, a key piece of competitive puzzle, taking shape as 2025 opening nears
David Wren — Post & Courier
Looks can be deceiving at the Navy Base Intermodal Facility — a rail yard that by this time next year will connect the Port of Charleston with freight trains hauling overseas-bound cargo on the way in and imported goods on the way out.
At first glance, it might seem the $400 million project that's been in the planning stages for more than a decade is still a long way from completion. That's because most of the work at the North Charleston site has been on or under the ground — and hard to see — with construction of roads, utilities and other infrastructure.
But soon, new buildings and half a dozen wide-span gantry cranes to move cargo containers on and off rail cars will rise on the landscape, filling in what's looked like vacant land for so many months.
And in less than a year, the first cargo boxes will be loaded onto Norfolk Southern and CSX trains, filling a critical need the S.C. State Ports Authority has been lacking — the availability of rail service near one of its container terminals.
Right now, the maritime agency is the only major East Coast port operator that can't offer an "on-dock" or "near-dock" option to customers.
“This resolves the last remaining competitive disadvantage we have as a major East Coast container port," Barbara Melvin, the SPA's president and CEO said in a written statement. "This critical infrastructure project will greatly enhance SC Ports’ capacity, allowing imports and exports to swiftly move between the hinterland and the Port of Charleston.”
About 300,000 containers, or roughly 25 percent of the port's annual total, are moved by rail each year, with trucks handling the rest.
The new rail yard will have the capacity to nearly triple that number and accommodate future growth at the port while potentially eliminating thousands of tractor-trailer trips along local roads and reducing vehicle emissions.
It's estimated one train can carry as much cargo as 280 trucks.
In addition to about 78,000 linear feet of track, the 118-acre yard will include a container-stacking area, an administrative building, security booths, truck gates and six electric gantry cranes that span over tracks where containers are transferred to and from railcars. Trains can enter and leave the site at both the north and south ends, and they'll be able to double-stack containers for efficiency.
The project also includes roadwork to minimize the impact the railroads will have on local traffic. An automobile and pedestrian overpass is being built from Spruill Avenue to North Hobson Avenue, providing a pathway to Riverfront Park. A dedicated, port-owned road will also be built connecting the Leatherman Terminal with the rail yard.
"It's a great new innovative terminal they're going to be opening," Maryclare Kenney, vice president of intermodal and automotive for CSX, said in a video promoting the state-funded project. "We'll be providing it with efficient and effective rail service so that we can connect Charleston to Southeast markets and beyond."
Shawn Tureman, vice president of intermodal and automotive marketing for Norfolk Southern, said the rail yard "creates a more efficient, lower-carbon solution" to moving cargo to and from the port.
The rail yard has been a long time coming, with initial work started in 2008 by Palmetto Railways, a short-line railroad that's part of the S.C. Department of Commerce.
The project moved slowly through regulatory processes and early engineering work but was never fully funded until the SPA took ownership in 2020 and convinced state legislators to provide $400 million in taxpayer funding.
The ports authority is responsible for any cost overruns.
Palmetto Railways is still a key partner and will provide railroad support services at the site, built on land it acquired after the Navy closed the base in 1996.
The rail hub is part of a bigger plan to launch a barge system that will move shipping containers by water from the port's Wando Welch Terminal in Mount Pleasant to Leatherman and then to the train yard, eliminating even more truck trips.
Intermodal transportation accounted for about 25 percent of revenue for all major U.S. railroads in 2023, more than any other single rail traffic segment, according to the American Association of Railroads. About half of rail intermodal volume consists of imports or exports — the type of cargo that will be handled at the Navy base site.
Shippers like ports with rail access because the option can save time and money in getting their products to customers.
"Intermodal trains cut road congestion and costs by transporting hundreds of containers otherwise moved by truck, reducing the need for new roads and lowering maintenance expenses," the association said in a statement.
Walter Lagarenne, the SPA's vice president of engineering and facilities, knows every square inch of the project he's overseen since the maritime agency took it over.
"It seems my career revolves around this place," he said, referring to a long list of tasks he's been a part of along the waterfront during his career, including construction oversight of Leatherman, which opened in 2021. "I've worked here so many times in all kinds of capacities."
On a recent tour, he pointed out construction landmarks, like a temporary concrete plant that will be used to pave the container yard and the realignment of Bainbridge and Hobson roads.
"They've already done all of the utilities on the water side and now they're working on the land side," he said. "Eventually, this all gets repaved with new curbing and sidewalks. There will be a nice, cool, brand-new road."
The rail yard has been designed so trucks will avoid local roads and neighborhoods. Instead, they'll enter and exit from Interstate 26 via the Port Access Road that links with Leatherman. From there, they'll take a private, roughly mile-long link from the terminal to the trains.
The north end of the rail line will tie into tracks Palmetto Railways installed in 2018 for an export customer. A new line will curve around Milford Street and extend north to provide train access to the rail yard's southern entrance.
The yard will be equipped with 11 processing tracks and will have room to add six more if they're needed. Once trains arrive, the cars will be separated and moved underneath cranes for loading or unloading. The cars will then be assembled for departure. Norfolk Southern or CSX can do that work as well as Palmetto Railways, which is retaining ownership of the arrival and departure tracks.
The yard will be separated by a large berm between its property and nearby homes to prevent noise disturbances. Also, lighting will be positioned so it does not spill over into residential areas. A large ditch on the edge of the rail yard is mean to prevent flooding on adjacent property.
The cranes will be operated remotely by computer. The structures are being fabricated in Vietnam and Poland and will be sent to Charleston from their European manufacturer, with the shipments expected to arrive in January and March.
The yard will be powered by an on-site substation that Dominion Energy is building that will also serve other properties along the Cooper River.
"This project impacted the electrical system that used to serve everything out here, so we spent a lot of money consolidating, and changing some of the existing utilities and electrical is one of the big ones," Lagaranne said. "So, they're basically rebuilding the distribution system throughout this whole area."
Lagarenne said he's looking forward to the "vertical" construction on the property and seeing the cranes arrive as the rail yard finally takes shape.
"The first year was really just moving dirt and putting in utilities and all the stuff that you don't ever see again," he said.
By July 1, 2025 — the scheduled opening day — all of that behind-the-scenes work will finally come into focus, giving the Port of Charleston the last piece of a puzzle it feel it needs to remain among the nation's top 10.
