Plasser American Opens New Chesapeake Plant
Written by Jennifer McLawhorn, Managing Editor, Railway Track & Structures
Left to right : Plasser American CEO Thomas Blechinger, Plasser & Theurer CEO Johannes Max-Theurer, Virginia Secretary of Commerce Chelsea Jenkins, Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin, Austrian Ambassador to the U.S. Petra Schneebauer, Chesapeake, Va. Mayor Rick West, Plasser & Theurer Shareholder Victoria Max-Theurer, Plasser & Theurer Beteiligungs-und Finanzierungs AG Member of the Board Thorsten Bode. All illustrations courtesy of Plasser American.
Plasser American on Oct. 5 officially opened its new 82,000 square-foot. manufacturing facility, located at 2428 Josef Theurer Ln., Chesapeake, Va. The new facility “grows the company’s footprint as a committed corporate and community partner locally as well as in Virginia.”
“The launch of Plasser American’s new manufacturing building is a testament to the company’s mission of supporting the railroad industry by providing cutting-edge machines, technologies and services for our customer’s individual needs,” the company said. As “a symbol of its commitment to investing in the future,” Plasser American said it will create 75 new jobs and invest in the community.
The 82,000 square-foot facility uses “state-of-the-art technology that will allow Plasser American to manufacture machines more efficiently, with a level of precision once unimaginable. Along with its size, it has four interior/exterior tracks to increase production capability and efficiency. Additionally, the manufacturing, warehousing and engineering workspace houses four 50-ton overhead cranes and four new tracks tied into the existing network to allow for increased material movement and streamlined manufacturing processing.”
With a $52 million investment including campus improvements of $32 million, this second part of a multimillion-dollar expansion is one of the largest in the Hampton Roads area.
“Plasser American stands on the cusp of a new era,” Plasser American President and CEO Thomas Blechinger said. ”Just as the railroad played a pivotal role in our past, it is set to play a transformative role in our future. The renewed emphasis on sustainable practices and environmentally friendly solutions has rekindled interest in rail transport. With its energy efficiency and lower environmental impact, the railway industry is poised to redefine the way, yet again, how we move goods and people across the nation.”
Below are renderings of the new facility:
Based in Chesapeake, Virginia since 1970, Plasser American has a North America-specific product portfolio that builds 40 machines per year on average, with more than 2,500 machines delivered and more than 1,800 built. Among the machines being manufactured are the RM-80 high performance Ballast Cleaning machine and the PTS-62 Dynamic Track Stabilizer, which designed to apply controlled, accurate stabilizing forces into the track structure at a continuous speed of up to 1 mph. The Metro 4×4, a heavy-duty, high-performance tamping machine, and the BDS100 and BDS200, the Plasser Ballast Distribution System consisting of two units that work together as one machine, are also among the machines being manufactured.
Plasser American’s workforce consists of more than 375 employees, including 13% with more than 15 years of service, 20% with more than 10 years of service, and six staff with more than 40 years of service. The workforcehas an overall tenure average of 6.5 years, more than the U.S. average tenure in manufacturing of five years. Building this new facility started officially back in May 2022, and there were close to 200 men and women construction contractors and 300 direct and indirect labor who contributed.
