Tri-Cities Intermodal Offers Wallula Facility Update

Tri-Cities Intermodal, LLC, has announced that efforts at its Wallula facility are moving forward, after three years of effort.

Construction started in late December and is expected to be completed no later than May.

In the meantime, Tri-Cities Intermodal has commenced a “soft launch.” The first containers were moved last week.

In a move previously deploying 450-mile roundtrip truck moves (between Pasco and Port of Tacoma), this shipment of 300 tons of hay was handled by ten roundtrips of 50 miles (between Pasco and Wallula) – a reduction of 89% of previous highway miles.

Pictured below are recent photos showing:

• Containers being handled by REMPREX;
• One doublestack railcar loaded with ten containers;
• Rail partners Union Pacific and Columbia Rail; and
• Grading being performed by Rotchsky.

The final photograph shows the rainbow which appeared after teams finished loading the first outbound car.

Handling export cargo and empty containers is only the first step.  In the near future, Tri-Cities Intermodal will add a service for import cargo. It also expects to offer domestic service between the Tri-Cities and points east as construction progresses.

This success is due to the backing and encouragement received from the entire Tri-Cities community – not to mention stakeholders in Washington State (and beyond.)

An official opening is planned for this summer.