L.B. Foster Provides Materials for $30.5 Million DART Contract
- Nov 17, 2020
- Rail
L.B. Foster Company (the “Company”) (NASDAQ: FSTR), announced continuing supply of rail and infrastructure related products used in the construction of the 26-mile east-west Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) Silver Line. The contract, which was agreed in Q4 of 2019, includes seven rail trains carrying 1,600 ft segments of continuous welded rail (CWR), insulated rail joints, PROTECTOR® IV-gauge face rail friction management wayside lubricator units, and steel and concrete construction products used for structural foundation work required along the regional rail corridor.
Archer Western Herzog (AWH) 4.0, a joint venture between Archer Western and Herzog Contracting Corp., secured the design-build contract for the new rail line’s construction. L.B. Foster coordinated the shipment of rail manufactured by Steel Dynamics, Inc. (SDI) in Columbia City, IN and distributed via special CWR trains to the jobsite. Insulated rail joints and friction management lubricators were manufactured at L.B. Foster’s Niles, OH facility.
Bob Bauer, President and Chief Executive Officer, commented, “The project with DART involved participation across several of our rail, construction, and concrete businesses providing the added benefits of working with one supplier to help streamline the project’s product logistics and scheduling requirements.”
L.B. Foster’s CXT® concrete products business partnered with The Reinforced Earth Company (RECo) to precast their T-Wall® and mechanically stabilized earth (MSE) retaining walls and panels at the Company’s Hillsboro, TX plant. The precast T-Walls, MSE wall panels, and steel piling wide flange beams are being used for structural foundation work in embankments, rail bridge structures, and retaining walls. The heights of the walls average around 15 ft and can be up to 27 ft tall.
“We are honored that Archer Western Herzog presented us with the opportunity to provide the DART Silver Line project with our manufactured steel and concrete products. AWH’s decision to purchase from us was not based solely on price, but on a long-term successful relationship and team effort by both companies as demonstrated on past projects,” noted Mark Hammons, Rail Sales Manager, L.B. Foster Company.
Construction on DART’s $2 billion project linking Plano, TX to the Dallas Fort Worth (DFW) Airport is anticipated to be completed in 2022. According to DART, the new Silver Line will provide mobility accessibility and system linkages for passengers along this regional suburban corridor that interface with DART's three light-rail lines: The Red/Orange Lines in Richardson/Plano, the Green Line in Carrollton, and the Orange Line at DFW Airport.
