Less than two miles from Interstate 16 in the U. S. S. 280 there is a long dirt road that opens onto a huge box of level earth that stretches as far as the eye can see. The 3,000-acre patch is Bryan County’s megasite and will house Hyundai’s first electric vehicle plant in the U. S. The U. S. drugmaker has dubbed Hyundai Metasite.
Representatives of the Interstate 16-Port of Savannah Joint Development Authority, also known as Savannah JDA, took a field trip to the site Thursday. on the plant. Cleanup of the site began on August 1.
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Barnett Southern, McLendon Enterprises and Complete Sitepaintings Services make up Mega Civil Construction LLC, a multi-company company hired to handle the massive floor preparation work for the plant.
Trip Tollison, president of Savannah JDA, the joint venture has been impressive.
“What stands out the most is the hard work and determination that Mega Civil and the painters here put into the project,” Tollison said. “If you think about what this position looked like in August and what it looks like today, I think a lot of other people are inspired by the temporary way things move and Mega Civil’s determination. “
The structure teams operate on a tight schedule, but Mega Civil’s Adam Lee is confident that the organization of more than a hundred team members can meet the deadline.
“We’re all doing things with our other talents that we all have; we’ve come in combination and verified that happening,” Lee said.
Lee, who is also senior assignment manager for McLendon Enterprise, said the first thing to do is perceive which spaces you want to transfer first.
“Once that’s done, it sets its production rates and then starts filtering the apparatus as needed,” Lee said.
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The site lacked some workers. The tight task market, along with each company juggling multiple projects, meant the trio had to rely even more on each other to get the task done. The team still has 150 acres of trees to clean, most commonly along I-16. In total, the groups moved 11 million cubic meters of soil.
If this land were stacked on the eastbound and westbound lanes of I-16 between Savannah and downtown, the berms would be 47 feet tall.
“We’re ahead of what we thought we were in terms of on-site equipment, but now we want to get the integral component, which is the component between the seat and the guide wheel, have enough people to run the equipment. “that we have,” Lee said. But if you have 3 that are combined into one like the JDA, you have more resources. If CSS has any problems, we hope McLendon can Array There have been new hires to fill those roles. It is the largest, but 3 independent corporations have other projects and are ongoing.
The new crossing at I-16 and 280 won’t be ready until 2027, but the side street will be ready before the plant opens. next to the catwalks.
“There’s a federal procedure they’ve had to go through, so it’s taking a little longer to build those roads,” Tollison said. “The DOT takes care of the service path and exchange. of view. The JDA is running the design package for the southern access road, which is the southern component of the site and is directly similar to the battery factory and is being designed as we speak, however it is expected to be in a position until summer 2023. This is becoming a wonderful path that comes and is happening as we build everything forward.
Nearly $7 million will be awarded from an intergovernmental agreement with Georgia’s DOT for the construction of the railroad, but one piece of the puzzle is still unknown: Where will the cars go once built?
“We don’t know yet what the export schedule is, but it’s more than likely that you’ll have to move to Brunswick,” Tollison said, referring to the Port of Georgia Authority’s car shipping facility on Colonel’s Island. “I think the The most effective way is to pass attached to Savannah and then go back down. They’re running all of that right now.
A 170-acre lot is set aside for a stormwater retention pond to make rain and other elements drain easily. Excess dirt from the pond will be used for shock absorbers, which serve as structures for elements such as columns or frames.
“You have the buffer spaces in front that are cut at the point and those curtains go to the giant fields segment,” Lee said.
The lake’s embankment helped mitigate the blow financially. Without it, Lee said using more land would have tripled expenses.
“What makes this site amazing is that we were able to dig this pond and remove the embankment from this pond and apply it all over the site,” Tollison said. “If we didn’t have that option, we would have had to load ground trucks from off-site. “
A slideshow at the inauguration showed an excerpt of what the plant will look like. Its sleek appearance gave it futuristic vibes and Tollison said Hyundai went out of its way into the design elements.
“We were in California and had the first presentation on the design and everyone was impressed,” Tollison said. “I guess a smart word is revolutionary. Hyundai is a well-oiled machine, from the structure and structure of the car to metal and architecture. It’s going to get a lot of attention. I don’t know much about the electric vehicle industry or the automotive industry, but I will tell you that what we’ve noticed a few times with the company, what is going to be built here, is a facility that we’re all going to be proud of. “
Last week, Hyundai and the JDA held a momentous rite at the site, followed by a network birthday party at the Enmarket Arena.
“It’s definitely more genuine than ever,” Tollison said. It started to feel genuine on May 20th when we announced the project, but when you see all the resources, plans and all the paintings that were included in this groundbreaking project, you think, ‘Okay, this is happening. ‘So it was a beautiful day. “
As the assignment progresses, the progression of the meeting floor is a key objective. The battery factory will be a joint venture and will be finished after the installation of the meeting. Tollison said economic progression officials have their full hands to make sure those allocations are on time. while courting suppliers who need to do business with Hyundai.
“What helps us stay up at night is making sure the meeting component and all affiliates are ready,” Tollison said. “And, of course, all suppliers are coming to market. All this will have to be operational in the first component of 2025. And that’s a big, big boost.
Latrice Williams is a general reporter covering Bryan and Effingham counties. You can reach her on lwilliams6@gannett. com.