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February 9 2022
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Officials Revive Smucker’s Project Represents Largest $2.1B I-10 Bridge Investment in Jefferson County History Bayway Project Officials on the Alabama coast have resurrected a $2.1 billion plan to build a massive Interstate 10 bridge spanning the Mobile River and expand the highway across Mobile Bay. Mobile and Baldwin County officials on Dec. 15 voted to revive the original concept for the I-10 Mobile River Bridge and Bayway project, but with a cheaper toll and a toll-free route through the Wallace Tunnel. Toll opponents who killed the project in 2019 said they remain opposed to any user fee, even a reduced one, but state officials have said that these charges are the only way to both fund the building project and maintain the bridge and reconstructed roadway. The Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPO) for both Mobile and the eastern shore of Baldwin County, assembled for separate meetings before deciding to make a request to the Alabama Department of Transportation (ALDOT) to push the bridge and road effort forward without the large tolls that doomed the plan two years ago. Several area news outlets reported that toll prices would be limited to $2.50, down from as much as $6 under the previous plan, and a free route across the heavily traveled northern end of Mobile Bay would still be available through Wallace Tunnel and existing roads. In approving a framework for the I-10 project, Mobile and Baldwin County leaders said the construction is vital to easing congestion and improving safety along the busy east-west route linking Jacksonville, Fla., with Los Angeles. “It is truly a historic and happy day not only for the region but the nation,” said Jack Burrell, chair of the Eastern Shore MPO’s policy committee, at a news conference shortly after the twin voting sessions were concluded. see MOBILE page 6
Crews grind excess brush on the $1.1 billion Smucker’s manufacturing plant project.
Construction crews in McCalla, Ala., are working on a project that marks the largest capital investment by a company in Jefferson County’s history. When complete, the $1.1 billion Smucker’s manufacturing plant will produce the company’s popular frozen sandwiches. “Forthcoming production at our McCalla manufacturing facility will support our ability to deliver on continued escalating demand for our Smucker’s Uncrustables,” said Frank Cirillo, senior manager, corporate communications of The J.M. Smucker Co. “We have invested consistently in supporting this demand, including coordinating an expansion of our new manufacturing facility in Longmont, Colorado. The opening of this new facility represents the latest exciting step in our efforts.” Known for its jam, jelly, peanut butter, fruit syrups and ice cream toppings, Smucker’s also operates an Uncrustables plant in By Cindy Riley
CEG CORRESPONDENT
Scottsville, Ky. The one-level Alabama plant, located southwest of Birmingham, will be part of the Jefferson Metropolitan Park, a 739-acre industrial park along U.S. 11, roughly 1 mi. from Interstate 20/59 and 2 mi. from I-459. “In reviewing potential options for the new facility, we focused on areas that would offer convenient location, provide sufficient land to accommodate the planned footprint for the facility and offer an attractive market to support our labor needs,” said Cirillo. “We found all of this in McCalla and at the industrial park location.” Dennis Group, headquartered in Springfield, Mass., is constructing the new plant, which it also designed. The first phase of construction is approximately 900,000 sq. ft. A planned second round will add another 400,000 sq. ft. Cirillo noted that the biggest challenge on the project is one that’s all too familiar. see PLANT page 6
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Intermodal Rail Upgrade Connects Mobile Port, State Hubs With port congestion and logistics issues in the news lately, particularly at ports on the East and West coasts, Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey is highlighting her state’s Alabama-USA Corridor, or A-USA, a rail initiative geared toward connecting the state’s deep-water port in Mobile with manufacturing and logistics hubs throughout the state. The A-USA Corridor is a proposed $231.6 million collection of rail projects aimed at upgrading existing infrastructure throughout central and southern Alabama. “Working together with the port in Mobile to build out our infrastructure to move the commerce for Alabama and the greater Southeastern region of the country must be one of our top priorities,” Ivey said in a Jan. 4 announcement. “Creating good port access to central Alabama is a key part of this initiative, and it can provide options for freight containers to reach new destinations inland, which our country has struggled with during the supply chain crisis. I am proud our state is looking ahead and investing in the Alabama-USA Corridor and the future jobs and economic opportunity it will bring.” St. Louis-based Waterways Journal, a maritime news service, reported Jan. 17 that the first phase of Ivey’s program involves work totaling $71.6 million that link the Port of Mobile and the McCalla Intermodal Facility near Birmingham. The 280-mi. rail corridor, which includes 12 track, signal and yard improvements on Norfolk Southern rail lines
Norfolk Southern photo
between Mobile, Selma and Birmingham, also will link economic development sites in Etowah, Shelby and Washington counties. A fourth site in McCalla will involve the development of a 104-acre parcel that will offer up to one-millionsq.-ft. of warehouse space under roof. Phase 1 funding came, in part, from the Growing Alabama Tax Credit program and Norfolk Southern, which will invest $5.7 million with the Etowah County Commission for improvements at a site near Little Canoe Creek. “The Alabama Port Authority welcomes this vital project as we address rapid growth in the port’s container intermodal and freight business lines,” said John C. Driscoll, director and CEO of the authority. “The Norfolk Southern rail improvements will bolster capacity, reliability, and market
access through the Port of Mobile for regional supply chains.” In announcing the initiative, Waterways Journal reported that Ivey cited an economic impact report from the University of Alabama’s Culverhouse College of Business, which found that, between 2000 and 2020, the area covered by the A-USA Corridor accounted for new and expanded economic development investments totaling $14.3 billion and 20,498 jobs in the state. The report estimates the projects to develop the corridor will have a $497.2 million impact in gross business activity, including close to $185 million in pay for 4,247 direct and indirect jobs. In addition, construction will generate $13.1 million in state and local taxes. The A-USA Corridor is a public-private partnership, with Norfolk Southern supplying more than half the funding. The state of Alabama is investing $5 million, with the rest coming from federal Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements Program (CRISI) grants through the Alabama Department of Transportation (ALDOT). “The A-USA Corridor is an innovative public-private partnership that will strengthen the nation’s supply chain at a critical time and boost the regional economy,” explained Alan Shaw, president of Norfolk Southern. “We look forward to working with Gov. Ivey and the Port of Mobile to make the A-USA Corridor an engine for job creation in Alabama for years to come.”
Gulf Coast’s Fort Morgan Pier Opens in Spring After Renovation For the first time in almost eight years, onshore anglers in Alabama should again have access to the excellent fishing on the lower end of Mobile Bay later this spring when the new and improved Fort Morgan Pier opens. The renovated pier will have L-shaped dimensions of 305 ft. by 210 ft. and a 40-ft.width. Its floor will be 8 ft. off the surface of the water at mean tide. Construction on the pier started in July 2020, said Alabama Marine Resources Division Director Scott Bannon, but a variety of issues arose that caused setbacks in its progress. “We immediately ran into delays due to COVID,” he explained in a Jan. 6 article in Outdoor Alabama. “The purchasing of the sheet pile was delayed several months, then Hurricane Sally came in and [stopped] construction, [so] we allowed a break in the contract to repair the Alabama Point facility that was damaged during the storm.” Outdoor Alabama is an online resource maintained by the Alabama Department of Conservation & Natural Resources (ADCNR). Bannon added that restoring law enforcement and search and rescue access following the hurricane also had to be done before work could resume. Additionally, he said the general contracting company and its subs had to deal with “challenging labor shortages” to get the pier rebuilt.
“But I think we’re on the downhill side,” he told Outdoor Alabama. “We anticipate an early March completion.” Bannon said the sheet pile work has since been completed and a portion of the concrete caps that cover the sheet pile. The old retaining wall demolition work also has been finished. The total cost of design, construction and oversight of the new pier was $3.2 million. Old Pier Has Withstood Harsh Gulf Weather Because the new Fort Morgan Pier is located on a historic site, special rules apply to the excavation of the area, which also expanded the construction timeline. “Under the previous pier, there were some barges considered to be of historical significance,” Bannon noted. “I believe they were placed there during World War II for a temporary pier. The fishing pier was then built around the barges. They were not in the exact position that we thought, so when the contractor was driving sheet piles and hit a piece of a barge, it required mitigation, removing those pieces and redriving the sheet piles.” The original pier was built with timbers and held up extremely well throughout its 40-year lifespan, but the double whammy of Hurricane Ivan in 2004 and Hurricane Katrina in 2005 took its toll on the structure. “It was pretty much rendered unsafe and
had to be closed in 2014,” Bannon said. “The ADCNR and the Alabama Historical Commission worked together to pursue funding from the Deepwater Horizon settlement money through Natural Resource Damage Assessment [NRDA].” New Pier to Protect Adjacent Boat Ramp Bannon said the upgraded Fort Morgan Pier will serve dual purposes by offering a fishing venue and serving as a seawall for the adjoining boat ramp and basin. “We worked very hard to develop a design that we felt would withstand the majority of weather anomalies and hurricanes we experience here on the Alabama coast,” he added. “That is why we went with steel sheet pile with a concrete platform. The railings are made of cables. It also will be ADA [Americans with Disabilities Act] compliant. It will have a much better parking area for all the anglers and at the boat ramp.” Bannon noted that the new Fort Morgan Pier is not only a beautiful place to fish but provides protection for the boat basin and ramp. The old seawall had deteriorated enough, he said, to allow sedimentation to rapidly build up during Hurricane Sally in September 2020, but crews were able to dredge that material for use as fill at the pier, rather than having to truck it in. The new structure is designed to help prevent some of that sedimentation in the
future. Pier Will Again Be Popular Spot for Anglers ADCNR Commissioner Chris Blankenship noted that the reopening of the Fort Morgan Pier will fill a missing piece of outdoor recreation on the Fort Morgan peninsula. “I am glad that the Fort Morgan Pier renovation is nearing completion,” he said in the Outdoor Alabama article. “This project has been a long time coming. As Alabama’s lead NRDA trustee, it was important for us at ADCNR to get this once popular public access site back in operation after many years of it being shut down due to damage from storms and the years of being in the harsh coastal elements. It is being reconstructed in a way that should withstand the test of time and storms.” That’s good news for anglers, who will soon have access to the abundant inshore species that inhabit the mouth of Mobile Bay, including red drum (redfish), speckled trout and flounder. “That area on the Fort Morgan peninsula is known for flounder fishing,” Bannon said. “Later in the year, the flounder migrate through that area to go out into the Gulf of Mexico. That’s why we have the November flounder closure, to protect those fish on their way to spawn. That is a shallow, sandy area that the fish like.”
Construction Equipment Guide • Alabama State Supplement • www.constructionequipmentguide.com • February 9, 2022 • Page 3
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Construction Equipment Guide • Alabama State Supplement • www.constructionequipmentguide.com • February 9, 2022 • Page 5
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Workers to Move 1.1M Cu. Yds. of Earth to Prep for Plant PLANT from page 1
“As with all construction at this time, we will need to work around changing lead times for materials and supply chain constraints,” he said. Crews have been working on the project since late 2021 and, while it’s still early in the process, progress is being made, “one shovel of dirt at a time,” said Cirillo. “We broke ground at the end of November and we plan to have the product commencing in calendar year 2025,” Cirillo said. Currently, workers are coordinating mass grading. They will be moving 1.1 million cu. yds. of earth. Prep work will include the mass grading to build up the building pad, bringing in a new substation to service electrical needs and setting up utilities. “The site had been a vacant agricultural parcel, so minimal clearing was required,” said Cirillo. Regarding the excavation, “We will be mechanically removing some boulders, and will coordinate removal of some rock formations.” As for how weather might affect the project, wet conditions are the biggest threat at this point. “At this stage, rain will have the greatest impact as we focus on mass grading,” Cirillo said. The ongoing construction will require a range of heavy machinery. Excavators, tractor-scrapers and dozers will be used, along with pad foot compactors and distractors. The most time-consuming part of the project, representing the longest portion of the overall timeline work, will involve equipment installation and startup. Cirillo said the highly anticipated facility will create new opportunities for workers in the area, with jobs paying an average of $25 an hour. “We anticipate creating up to 750 jobs upon the completion of our planned construction,” Cirillo said. “We are very excited to be a part of the local community and are apprecia-
The ongoing construction will require a range of heavy machinery. Excavators, tractor-scrapers and dozers will be used, along with pad foot compactors and distractors.
tive of the great support we have received from Jefferson County and state officials.” According to Ted vonCannon, who serves as the executive director of the Jefferson County Economic and Industrial Development Authority, the importance of the new plant can’t be overstated. “We’re in the job creation business,” vonCannon said. “Producing new and better paying jobs is what we’re all about and it’s very gratifying to be able to offer a man or woman a better opportunity, so that they can provide for their families. Having this new plant locate here is extremely significant. “Like with any major project, it was a long and very competitive process,” vonCannon added. “There were other cities in the southeast vying for this facility. There were long periods of negotiations, so when it finally happens, you realize just how big a deal it really is. “When you put together an incentive package for a com-
pany, you have to make it attractive,” vonCannon continued. “You have to offer everything you can, within reason. With Honda and Mercedes those might have seemed exorbitant at the time, but they’ve been worth every penny.” With construction now under way, vonCannon is encouraged by the fact that the Smucker’s plant is one step closer to opening its doors. “At the end of the day, you see that this has actually happened,” vonCannon said. “It’s something you’ve made a reality, after waiting so long for it to take place. It’s akin to preparing for the big game and finally experiencing victory.” Gov. Kay Ivey also remarked on the new construction. “Because The J.M Smucker Co. is one of America’s leading consumer packaged goods companies in the food sector, its decision to make a significant investment in Jefferson County represents a powerful endorsement of Alabama’s inviting business environment,” Gov. Ivey said. “Not only will the company’s growth project create a large number of jobs in McCalla, but it will also permit us to build a longstanding relationship with a top consumer brand.” “Our Smucker’s Uncrustables brand continues to be one of the fastest growing in our portfolio and in the food sector more broadly,” stated Mark Smucker, president and chief executive officer of Smucker’s. “We are proud of the success the brand has achieved, due in no small part to the tremendous efforts of our employees, and we’re excited to take advantage of the opportunities and growth our investments will enable.” The continued demand for the product has reportedly driven the brand’s growth over time to approximately $500 million in annual net sales, demonstrating double-digit net sales growth annually over the past decade. The J. M. Smucker Company is headquartered in Orrville, Ohio. The family-owned business was founded in 1897. CEG
Mobile’s Plan Includes Lifting Bridge Above 100-Year Flood Levels MOBILE from page 1 the federal act. Mobile Mayor Sandy Stimpson explained that there was a sense of urgency behind the Toll Prices Have Been Key Issue votes because Alabama risked losing a fedLocal and state leaders also have said the eral $125 million Infrastructure for Wallace Tunnel will remain toll free, which Rebuilding America (INFRA) grant, set to expire in September 2022, if the project was not in the pipeline. State officials told AL.com that the monies represented “one of the largest grants” ever awarded under the INFRA program. In addition to those funds, the state has pledged $250 million, and a $300 million federal loan would Proposed I-10 truck bridge. be repaid with toll revenues. Officials had hoped the I-10 project was a point of contention in 2019 because would be eligible for funding through the ALDOT officials claimed few people would $1.2 trillion Infrastructure Investment and utilize the tolled routes if the tunnel Jobs Act (IIJA) that was approved by remained free for motorists. Congress and signed by President Joe Biden Under the new scheme, tolls would be in November. But an ALDOT official con- charged only on the new bridge over the firmed to AL.com recently that no “mega- Mobile River and a newly constructed and projects” would receive much funding under elevated Bayway that would extend from
Mobile to U.S. Highway 98 in Daphne. The 2019 plan assessed the toll at $6 for a one-way trip, an amount that was deemed too steep by local officials. The newest toll request could be as low as $2.25. Kevin Spriggs, a businessperson based on the eastern shore who has followed the I-10 project closely over the years, said he hopes ALDOT commits to making up any differences on the project if the toll revenues from a lower user fee amount is not enough to pay off the bonds to build the structure. “How will the state maintain reoccurring funding if the tolls only bring in 50 percent of the bond allocation?” Spriggs said to AL.com. “Are they willing [to agree to support the project]? If that is the real commitment, then I think we have a project.” Both MPOs added the I-10 project back into their plans last June, and discussions about an alternative to the original proposal have been discussed for months. The most high-profile choice was the construction of a
truck-only toll bridge, but that plan was opposed by the trucking industry and has since been reassessed to include a toll bridge accessible for all vehicles. Construction Period Should Be Much Shorter With the I-10 Mobile River Bridge and Bayway seemingly on a more focused building timeline, instead of work lasting 25 years or longer, the new plan would reduce the construction period to about five years, local officials told AL.com. Once work does get under way, replacing the I-10 Bayway must adhere to the 2008 guidelines established by the American Association of State Highway Transportation Officials (AASHTO) that requires the structure to be lifted “well above” 100-year flood elevation levels. A rebuilt Bayway also would need to be elevated above the current structure to respond to the bay’s rising sea levels and the effects of climate change that include severe winds, floods and storm surge.
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