The Palm Beach Post: Railroad tie plant to be built in Ft. Pierce to help with construction of All Aboard Florida

By Jennifer Sorentrue

Rocla Concrete Tie, Inc., a Denver-based company that supplies concrete ties to the county’s railroads, plans to build a new plant in Ft. Pierce.

The plant will supply railroad ties to  All Aboard Florida, Florida East Coast Railway,  as well as other transit agencies and railroads throughout the Southeast United States.

It will be located along the existing FECR mainline in Fort Pierce. The location was chosen because Fort Pierce is the midway point between Orlando and Miami.

The All Aboard Florida project plans to run 32 trains a day between Miami and Orlando with stops in Ft. Lauderdale and West Palm Beach. Service is expected to start in 2017.

“Rocla is excited to be part of this unique partnership between FECR and All Aboard Florida,” Vice President of Business Development, Brett Urquhart, said in a news release. “The immediate need for concrete ties by the All Aboard Florida passenger rail project helped justify this investment, which will allow us to be an ongoing supplier to any other capital projects of All Aboard Florida & FECR, as well as use the FECR network to reach other customers in the future.”

The plant is expected to bring 42 jobs to the area, Urquhart said.

Construction on the new facility in Ft. Pierce will begin immediately and the production of concrete ties will start in early 2016, officials said.