Intermont Group Operates A Distribution Terminal Under Long-Term Contract With Giant Cement.
By Don Marsh
Virginia-based Intermont Group Ltd. provides the third-party terminal operator model for home state and Carolinas cement producers. The company’s newest distribution point is Spartanburg County, which along with neighboring Greenville and Anderson counties, plus their three namesake cities, anchor the South Carolina Upstate market.
The twin-silo terminal lies on a five-acre site facing Interstate 85, linking Charlotte, N.C. and Atlanta, the two fastest growing metro areas in the South. A 900-ft. spur routes rail cars dispatched to the facility on Norfolk Southern lines from the Giant Cement Harleyville flagship mill in the South Carolina Low Country, 200 miles southeast of Spartanburg.
Intermont Group operates the terminal under long-term contract with Giant Cement. Leading into the site development, both parties observed sustained Upstate region strength, best indicated by the evolution of top employer BMW North America’s Plant Spartanburg.
With 7 million sq. ft. under roof, the assembly operation has grown from an inaugural mid-1990s payroll of 2,000 to 11,000-plus and emerged as the German automaker’s global crown jewel. Plant Spartanburg and its large cast of supporting businesses have fueled building and nonbuilding work on both sides of the Great Recession.
“Upstate construction has been very strong, but rail-served properties are not easy to come by in the region,” said Intermont Group President Stevan Rainero. “The Spartanburg site is strategic to busy concrete producers and contractors. It highlights the benefits of our model: We identify a parcel, design and build the terminal, and serve the cement company’s customer base.” The Spartanburg project followed the firm’s construction of Charlotte and Durham, N.C., terminals for Giant Cement; a fourth terminal near Bristol headquarters serves Virginia neighbor Titan America.
Prime Property
Leading the Intermont Spartanburg terminal project were Ford, Bacon & Davis, Thomas & Hutton and Keystone Constructors Inc. They oversaw rail spur and terminal construction, erecting the two 250-ton Imperial Industries silos and installing a Cyclonaire HC Series unloading system equipped for pneumatic and bottom hopper rail cars.
As part of its material handling and process engineering work, Cyclonaire configured unloading and loading control access in the main office and rail shed.
The Spartanburg facility lies on land purchased from one of the Carolinas’ top ready mixed producers, Charlotte-based Concrete Supply Co., whose partners include Cemex USA.
The property was part of a 25-acre parcel that Concrete Supply had acquired for a new concrete operation to succeed a leased, legacy site under Cemex USA and predecessor RMC Industries.
A Cyclonaire HC Series conveyor unloads pneumatic and bottom hopper cement rail cars in a negative pressure cycle, transferring powder to the terminal silos in a subsequent positive pressure cycle. Cyclonaire equipped the facility with rail car unloading and tanker loading controls in the main office and track shed.
