CXT wins $6.5 million deal on railroad ties

A Spokane Valley manufacturer will supply 110,000 concrete railroad ties for a new commuter train line between Salt Lake City and Ogden, Utah, the company announced Wednesday.

The contract, between Utah Transit Authority and L.B. Foster Products, is worth more than $6.5 million, said company officials.

L.B. Foster, based in Pittsburgh, is the parent company of CXT Inc.’s concrete tie division, which is based in the Spokane Industrial Park.

The project involves 43 miles of lines stretching north from Salt Lake City to Weber County.

Delivery of the CXT ties will begin in January.

CXT Vice President Dave Millard said the job will keep the company busy for more than a year. The plant normally works two shifts five days a week. This project will move operations to seven days a week, Millard said.

“We are expecting a better-than-average year” because of that order, he said. One of its previous large jobs involved providing 19,000 concrete ties for the Port of Tacoma’s Pierce County terminal project.

The 110,000 ties for the Utah job is roughly one third of the Spokane Valley plant’s annual capacity, Millard added. The facility in the Spokane Industrial Park has been running for 13 years, he said.

L.B. Foster also has the contract to provide welded steel rails for the Utah Transit Authority project, a company press release said.