OMAHA, NEBRASKA, U.S. — Gavilon Grain, LLC announced on April 23 plans to upgrade its Avalon, Wisconsin, U.S., operation to accommodate shuttles and unit trains via the Wisconsin & Southern Railroad (WSOR), which is connected to multiple Class I railroads. 

The project includes the addition of 12,800 feet of track; equipment to load railcars at the rate of 60,000 bushels per hour (bph); two receiving stations to unload railcars or trucks at the rate of 20,000 bph each; a 150,000-bushel multi-purpose steel storage bin and a 7,000 bph grain dryer. Construction began this month.

“We look forward to more efficiently serving our customers by reducing the time it takes to handle inbound and outbound grain,” said Lee Kleman, regional vice-president of North American Grain. “Significant receiving improvements that can accommodate a total of 63,000 bph, coupled with one-way truck flow, inbound and outbound scales, a remote ticket printer and two additional covered truck pits, will enable customers to unload grain three times faster than before.”

“We will now be better equipped to handle wet corn,” said Derek Reed, location manager at the Avalon facility. “A total of 230,000 bushels of wet grain space and a new high speed grain dryer will boost our drying capacity to more than 8,500 bph.”

Avalon facility upgrades will also provide access to the WSOR short line, expanding Gavilon’s service area in southern Wisconsin. Work is expected to be complete in the fall of 2013.