One of the many Texas Engineering Landmarks in celebration of Texas ASCE’s Centennial: 1913-2013 “Engineering a Better Texas.” Visit them all!
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Burlington Northern Santa Fe Alliance Intermodal Transportation Center, ASCE Texas Section Outstanding Civil Engineering Achievement (OCEA) Award 1994
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“The Alliance Global Logistics Hub is a one-of-a-kind supply chain port not found in any other place in the world. When you add up the unparalleled multimodal program, economic benefits and logistics services we’ve added, we definitely differentiate ourselves from other industrial centers.” -- Tom Harris, senior vice president of Hillwood Properties
The Burlington Northern Santa Fe Alliance Intermodal Transportation Center (nee Santa Fe Alliance Intermodal Transportation Center), located 20 miles north of Fort Worth, was a groundbreaking project representing excellence in integrated industrial transportation and collaboration between private and public stakeholders. Construction of the new intermodal transportation hub consisted of three major components: including relocation of the main line of the Santa Fe Railway and construction of the Intermodal Facility (IMF) and the Consolidated Transportation Center (CTC).
Project design included an innovative fuel accounting system that seems routine now, but in the mid-1990s computer file registers detailing how much diesel fuel goes into each locomotive and tracking how much goes into the day-service tank from the storage tank was ground breaking. The design also included fully-automated switching and closed-circuit television security.
Engineers paid careful attention to aesthetics (not a typical consideration for railroad facilities) to integrate the design of the IMF and the CTC with the unique and sophisticated design of the nearby Alliance development and airport.
The Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway Intermodal Hub and Rail Complex has become a great asset to the cities of Dallas and Fort Worth – and the Nation’s freight transportation in general, working together with Alliance Airport and Dallas Area Rapid Transport (DART) to dramatically expand multimodal transportation - promoting economic development through stronger trade ties with Canada and Mexico.
Records:
Owner-Santa Fe Railway (now BNSF)
Engineer- Carter Burgess, Inc.
Contractor- Ragnar Benson, Inc
Developer- Alliance Development Company
TEXAS Logistics Hub of the Americas 2012
Office of the Governor | Economic Development & Tourism (pp.6-8) (
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(p.6)
Class I Railroads
• Texas’ railroad system is the second largest in the nation, with 47 freight railroad operators carrying 7.7 million rail carloads (2010).
• With more than 14,361 miles of track, Texas’ railroad system maintains more rail miles than any other state.
• Three of the country’s eight Class I railroads operate in Texas, including Union Pacific, Kansas City Southern, and the Fort Worth-based BNSF Railway.
(p.7)
Intermodal Rail Facilities
• In 2010, more than 7.4 million tons of intermodal rail freight were shipped from Texas, ranking the state third in the nation. Two Class I railroads, Union Pacific and BNSF, operate intermodal facilities at the Port of Houston, the nation’s second busiest seaport. Barbours Cut, one of the port’s two container terminals, provides six roll-on/roll-off ship berths, 26 truck lanes, and more than 42 acres of rail spur and track.
• Two master-planned logistics complexes, Fort Worth’s Alliance Texas and San Antonio’s Port San Antonio, integrate high-capacity industrial airports, Class I rail terminals, and direct access to interstate highways.
(p.8)
Intermodal Logistics Facilities Connecting Air, Road, and Rail Alliance Global Logistics Hub
The Fort Worth Alliance Airport is a public-use airport located at the Alliance Texas logistics hub 14 miles north of downtown Fort Worth, Texas. Owned by the City of Fort Worth and managed by Alliance Air Services, Alliance is the world’s first purely industrial airport. Opened in 1996, the airport covers an area of 1,198 acres and accommodates air cargo, corporate aviation, and military needs.
Features include:
• Runway extension to 11,000 feet is currently underway
• Accommodates all types of commercial traffic
• U.S. Foreign-Trade Zone designation with U.S. Customs on site
• Access to BNSF Railway’s Alliance Intermodal Facility
• Direct access to Union Pacific and BNSF rail lines
• Access to US interstate highway I-35W and Texas state highway SH-170
• Proximity to the Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport
Alliance Global Logistics Hub (
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Logistics Advantages
• Southwest Population Center— 6.3 million people in DFW Metroplex— Fourth largest metro area in the U.S.
• BNSF Railway’s Alliance Intermodal Facility— 600,000 lifts annually— Growth to 1 million lifts projected— Direct Asian import/export from the West Coast— 12 double-stacked intermodal trains daily
• BNSF Railway and Union Pacific Class I rail lines
• Transload facilities immediately adjacent tointermodal yard planned
• Container yard planned
• Rail-served facilities
• Interstate Highway 35W connects fromMexico to Canada
• Direct connection to Interstate Highways 20, 30 and 40
• Fort Worth Alliance Airport — World’s first 100% industrial airport—Air cargo, corporate and military aviation
• Alliance Air Trade Center provides directaircraft ramp access for domestic and international cargo handling
• Ground handling and air cargo services
• FedEx Southwest Regional Sort Hub, FedEx Freight and UPS Supply Chain Systems on-site.
• Triple Freeport Inventory Tax Exemption
• Foreign-Trade Zone #196 — No. 1 General Purpose FTZ in the U.S. for four years
• Foreign-Trade Zone consulting and services
• On-site U.S. Customs and Border Protection
• On-site Centralized Examination Station
• Corporate aviation facilities
• Located within the 17,000-acre AllianceTexasdevelopment
• Master planned and developed by Hillwood
FURTHER READING:
FreightLocation.org “Alliance Texas Global Logistics Hub – Fort Worth, Texas “ (
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“Alliance Global Logistics Hub” (
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ALLIANCE TERMINAL RAILROAD, LLC (
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wikimapia (
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AUIGC BNSF Alliance Intermodel Facility Expansion (
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Dallas Business Journal “Alliance through the years” (Jan 24, 2014, 5:00am CST) (
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Dallas Business Journal “State stands to gain from expanded Panama Canal” (6/22/2012) (
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Dallas Business Journal “Alliance ranked top foreign-trade zone“ (Feb 28, 2012, 11:41am CST) (
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BNSF Railway (wikipedia) (
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Fort Worth Alliance Airport (wikipedia) (
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Progressive Railroading “At BNSF, velocity isn't just a train-speed measure” (
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Hillwood “ALLIANCETEXAS CASE STUDY
(
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Forbes: How Ross Perot Jr. built 3rd family billion-dollar fortune (Dallas Business Journal Sep 5, 2013, 6:27am CDT) (
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BusinessClimate “AllianceTexas Anchors Fort Worth Transportation System” (
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Intermodal Business Parks Offer Transportation Pluses (
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Texas Construction: Fort Worth Intermodal Airport, AllianceTexas, Celebrates 20 Years March 01, 2010 (
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Multatech Architects & Engineers “BNSF Alliance Intermodal Facility Expansion” (
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“Massive & Multimodal: 1,671-Acre AllianceTexas Expansion Could Create 10,000 Jobs“ (
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