Bids to expand rail facilities at Ainsworth plant opened

Keith Gushard, The Meadville Tribune, Pa.
·1 min read

Apr. 11—Bids to expand rail facilities at J.M. Smucker Co.'s Ainsworth pet food plant near Meadville were opened Friday.

Only two bids each were received for the two contracts of the proposed project. One contract is for construction of 983 feet of railroad track at the plant in Vernon Township, while a second contract is for a railroad car unloading area with a scale, a building and conveyor system at the site.

In April 2019, the company was awarded a $2.3 million rail freight assistance grant from the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation through the Economic Progress Alliance of Crawford County. Additional funding for the project would be investment by Smucker.

The two bidders for the railroad construction project were Frontier Railroad Services LLC of New Stanton with a base bid of $683,840 while Francis J. Palo Inc. of Clarion submitted a base bid of $1.08 million. The bids also included five alternate projects — which could include as many as six additional tracks, depending on the alternate chosen, but at additional cost.

The two bidders for the unloading facility were Perry Construction Group Inc. of Erie at $6.1 million and Palo at $7.8 million.

The bids are to reviewed and the project's budget examined, Ashley Porter of Porter Consulting Engineers said following the bid opening. PennDOT's Bureau of Rail Freight will have to review the bids.

The project tentatively is scheduled to begin this year with completion by mid-summer 2022.

Keith Gushard can be reached at 724-6370 or by email at kgushard@meadvilletribune.com.