PTRA North Yard Round House
Houston, Texas

The PTRA North Yard accommodates up to 15 trains per day with a capacity of over 1,600 railcars. Flooding and associated drainage on the site was a critical issue involving not only resolution of the drainage problem, but replacement of a decades-old, failing system. At each step of the way, we made all necessary provisions to keep the rail yard operational, while facing the challenges such a project presents.

LJA Rail approached the Round House project as a two-part solution, which would resolve drainage issues and improve the overall geometry of the rail yard. We addressed and replaced the Round House rooftop’s drainage system, which was contributing to the problem. While we improved the drainage of the fueling area that was past its service life, we installed a permanent oil-water separator to replace the temporary system currently in use. During construction, we made arrangements for ongoing locomotive fueling to continue without interruption keeping two bays open in the Round House at all times. Further, we moved the existing wheel axle storage tracks to accommodate relocation of the railroad crossing and we modified the concrete fueling pad in order to straighten the new tracks. The site houses an extraordinary number of existing above and below-ground utilities, presenting many challenges. We responsively addressed locating and working around these existing utilities throughout the project.