HORN LAKE, MS

Neel-Schaffer feeding growth in Desoto County

Neel-Schaffer served as the design engineer for the development of construction plans, contract documents, and specifications for the 3,225 feet of railroad spur to serve the Newly Weds Foods Manufacturing Plant in the City of Horn Lake.

This $1.3 million project was funded in part by a CDBG grant, Delta Regional Authority, MS RAIL program, and the US Department of Commerce Economic Development Administration.

Newly Weds Foods is a Chicago-based manufacturer of food coatings, seasonings, and other ingredients for the food processing and service industries. Today, Newly Weds Foods is a world leader in food ingredient technology. Before this project, this branch of Newly Weds Foods was restricted to receiving bulk ingredients by truck only. This project was developed to provide the company with a more cost-effective option to receive goods in bulk via rail.

The track consisted of a primary spur that connected to the Grenada-Natchez railroad mainline, and also included a secondary spur behind the Newly Weds warehouse. The design incorporated a concrete loading pad to accommodate a transload facility for the company’s use in unloading different ingredients used in the warehouse to manufacture their food products (i.e. sugar, flour, etc.).

Neel-Schaffer designed the railroad in accordance with the railroad design manual, while providing construction, engineering, and inspection services during the construction of the rail spur. Neel- Schaffer’s role during construction included overseeing construction activity to assure compliance with the plans and specifications, reviewing pay applications from the contractor, reviewing contractor certified payrolls, and grant coordination.