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The Port of Everett, Wash., recently secured a $1.2 million federal transportation appropriation to construct a rail spur that will connect with a BNSF Railway Co. mainline.

The 2,500 lineal feet of track will enable the port to serve as a base of operations to support regional recovery and reconstruction efforts in the event of a man-made or natural disaster, such as a Mount Rainier eruption that could shut down ports in Seattle, Olympia and Tacoma, and close roads.

The port also will use the appropriation to connect the spur to a bulk loading facility. Currently, about 90 percent of the bulk cement transported from the port moves via truck. The rail spur will enable the port to expand the market for imported cement for distribution to points as far away as Calgary, Alberta, port officials said in a prepared statement.

In addition to the appropriation, the port secured a $1.2 million U.S. Department of Homeland Security grant and $700,000 state loan to finance the $3.1 million spur. The port expects to launch construction in early 2010 and complete the spur by year’s end.