Prattville South Industrial Park Road and Bridge

In 2016, James Hardie Building Products, the global leader in fiber cement technology, selected Prattville South Industrial Park as its next manufacturing site. The company chose Prattville’s mega-site due to the area’s skilled workforce, proximity to critical resources, and access to key markets. As the City of Prattville excitedly announced the industrial park’s new tenant, the economic development team worked tirelessly to determine how to complete the needed infrastructure improvements for the James Hardie opening. 

The City of Prattville had previously engaged Sain Associates to review various aspects of the Prattville South Industrial Park, such as site grading, parcel layout, and alternatives for roadway access. However, without an industrial tenant, the City wasn’t ready to develop the park. After landing their largest industrial prospect in over 50 years, the City was determined to secure funding sources and develop the site’s infrastructure. Sain Associates was contracted in 2016 and 2017 by the City of Prattville to perform the surveys, transportation planning and design, bidding assistance, and construction engineering and inspection.

Specific infrastructure components had to be in place before the facility’s unveiling. Infrastructure improvements were extensive and included 9,800 linear feet of new roadway, 216 linear feet of new bridge over an existing railroad, and new utilities to serve the site. To accomplish this daunting task, the economic development team, with assistance from Sain Associates, sought multiple funding opportunities and was awarded federal funds from the United States Economic Development Authority and state industrial access funds from the Alabama Department of Transportation. The City of Prattville and Autauga County formed a partnership and combined their resources to fund the remainder of the infrastructure improvements. Simultaneously, utility owners brought their utility services into the park at their own expense in exchange for revenue generation from future customers.

With multiple funding sources in place, both the design and construction were challenging. Sain Associates was instrumental in the roadway’s planning and design, obtaining plan approvals from multiple agencies. Both the roadway and bridge improvements and the James Hardie site were constructed at the same time. As the construction inspection and engineer, Sain Associates provided exceptional leadership in ensuring all requirements for the funding were fulfilled and coordinating schedules, construction operations, and progress to guarantee the infrastructure improvements were complete in time for the James Hardie opening in February 2020.