Hyundai Rotem USA, New Rail Car Manufacturing Facility
Hyundai Rotem USA, a division of the Korean Hyundai Motor Cars company, created its US headquarters in Philadelphia, PA. Burns provided engineering design and construction management of their new facility that will produce 120 Silverliner V rail cars for SEPTA and other transportation systems across the country. The new plant, in the South Philadelphia section of Philadelphia, will create 300 manufacturing jobs.
The 290,000 sf industrial building was built in the 1960’s and housed operations for a manufacturer. The 12 acre property includes 25,000 square feet of office space and 265,000 square feet of manufacturing space. The site’s proximity to the Port of Philadelphia, the network of rail lines, and interstate highways made it a very appealing choice for the location of the new rail car facility. The large capacity, high volume space was well-suited to rail car manufacturing.
One of the largest challenges in re-using an older industrial building for modern use is adapting the building infrastructure and systems to accommodate the unique needs of rail car manufacturing, the overhead catenary system, the traversing tables, specialized test pits with varying slope conditions, and industrial engineering for machining and manufacturing operations.
Burns’ design services included improvements of the exterior rail line and the addition of new interior rail lines. Other project challenges include conforming to new storm water management regulations. Additional services provided by Burns included mechanical, electrical, civil, structural engineering to improve the HVAC, lighting, power, communications, and fire protection.
SEPTA and Rotem recently display a pilot Silverliner for Philadelphians to see and comment on the newest addition to SEPTA’s rail fleet. Burns is proud to help ROTEM to achieve their mission of creating a first-class rail car manufacturing facility in the US.
Posted on Feb 16, 11:00 AM