Workers Install Rack System for New Haven Rail Yard

Workers installed the rack system inside the Central Distribution Warehouse under construction in the New Haven Rail Yard

The racks not only hold repair parts for use in the railroad repair facility next door. They also support the building’s roof and walls.

Rizzo is the general contractor on the $22 million Central Distribution Warehouse (CDW) in the New Haven Rail Yard. The work includes modifications and connections to the existing Component Change Out Shop (CCO) next door, a rail car repair facility. Rizzo is working with an Automated Storage & Retrieval System (ASRS) contractor to construct a state of the art, robotic ASRS warehouse.

The fully automated warehouse will have conveyors, pallet racks, stretch wrap machines, automatic cranes, and storage and retrieval ability for any part, from those stored on 1,000-pound skids to those held in mini bins.

The building is approximately 11,300-square-feet in size and 100 feet tall. It is clad with metal siding and constructed in a flood plain with the associated safety features, including flood doors and reinforced glass. The project is physically connected to the Component Change Out Shop next door via a connecting bridge. The massive change out shop next door is used to repair rail cars and the inventory of repair parts will be stored in the automated warehouse now under construction.

Rizzo is working closely with the state Department of Transportation, with Metro North Rail Road and with the contractor finishing the change out shop next door that shares the same site.