Philadelphia Regional Port Authority Southport Vehicle Processing Center (VPC)

Arora Engineers, Inc. (Arora) serving as a subconsultant to STV, Inc., provided plumbing, fire protection, and electrical engineering design and construction management services for the new Auto Terminal and Vehicle Processing Center (VPC) in Southport.

The state-of-the-art, 112,000 SF facility is slated to process over 200,000 imported autos before distribution to dealer locations each year. The facility contains enough space for over 350,000 cars annually, two car washes with the ability to service 200 cars per hour, a VPC that can process over 1,000 cars per day, specialty heated floors for winter weather preparedness, and an advanced auto body shop with two double prep stations and two jointed double paint booths. The facility also includes office/support areas, employee lunch room, toilet/locker facilities, and multiple storage areas for car parts.

This project was awarded ‘Best Mechanical Construction Project’ at the General Building Contractors Association (GBCA)’s 2020 Annual Construction Excellence Awards.

SCOPE OF WORK INCLUDED:

Plumbing:
Arora provided plumbing systems design services, including roof drainage, car wash supply and drainage, domestic hot and cold water, sanitary waste drainage and venting, and natural gas distribution, as required to suit the architectural program and space needs. Emergency eyewash/showers were also provided, as required in the body shop areas.

Fire Protection:
Arora provided fire protection design, which consisted of overall hazard designations, sprinkler main and pipe layouts, details, and specifications to assist the fire sprinkler contractor in providing delegated design documents for fire suppression.

Electrical:
Arora provided site electrical design for remote security CCTV cameras and site wireless access points (WAPs), including electrical load calculations, concrete duct bank layout, and details.

Photos provided from GBCA.com