Ohio rail panel OKs $2.3M in grants for five rail projects

The Ohio Rail Development Commission last week approved more than $2.3 million in grant assistance for five projects resulting in more than $7.4 million in rail infrastructure projects throughout the state.

The projects include a company establishing a new manufacturing plant in Ohio, existing Ohio businesses enhancing their competitiveness, and short lines upgrading infrastructure including the replacement of a 100-year-old bridge, commission officials said in a press release.

The grant amounts and related projects involve the following:

• $1.2 million to rehabilitate a bridge on the Wheeling & Lake Erie Railway’s (WLE) Rook Subdivision in Tuscarawas County. Built in 1903 over the Tuscarawas River, the bridge connects customers along the Ohio River to WLE's main yard in Brewster. The bridge originally was designed to accommodate two tracks, so new spans will be installed on existing foundations that will allow the railroad to construct the project with limited disruption to rail customers. The project's total cost is about $3.3 million;

• $497,875 to R. J. Corman Railroad Co. to rehabilitate a portion of the St. Marys Subdivision in Mercer and Auglaize counties. The railroad will match the grant for a total project investment of nearly $1 million;

• $350,000 to First Quality Tissue Midwest LLC for a project to install rail infrastructure necessary to support the company's new $985 million plant in Defiance. The company anticipates shipping and receiving 1,500 new rail carloads annually over five years;

• $174,000 to Wilmington Iron & Metal Co. to expand its on-site rail capacity to meet an increase in rail gondola usage from 136 rail cars to 600 rail cars per year. The rail project is part of a $17.4 million facility expansion to accommodate demand from manufacturing and steel mill consumers. The total rail project investment is estimated at $870,000; and

• $150,000 to the Kraft Heinz Co. plant in Fremont in Sandusky County. The grant supports a $1.45 million rail project to replace the on-site rail spur, including repair and replacement of catch basins and storm sewers. Once the project is completed, the company anticipates business at the facility will generate 923 rail cars each year for the next three years.