North American Stainless (NAS) Safety and Circulation Study

WGI provided mobility consulting services for NAS’s production facility. NAS is the largest fully integrated stainless steel producer in the United States. The site is located along the Ohio River, southwest of Ghent in Carroll County, Kentucky. The site spans approximately 11 million square feet and is located along both sides of US-42, with several other large manufacturing and utility plants nearby. The site sees unique challenges posed by its transportation needs ranging from pedestrians to heavy machinery. 

WGI conducted a site visit to observe activity during peak operational hours and documented existing constraints and circulation at various locations within the NAS site. WGI staff also met with NAS staff to gather feedback on commonly observed issues, intersection configuration challenges, accessibility, queuing concerns, and maneuverability challenges, among others. 

WGI applied the following principles to develop quick implementation solutions at the most critical locations within the site to improve safety, operations, and circulation. 

• Scale intersections considering vehicle and pedestrian needs at each location 
• As space permits, assign defined space to vehicles traversing the site, workspace, and pedestrian movements with as little overlap as possible 
• Reduce the number of decision points and maximize the distance between them 
• Channelize or otherwise separate traffic at intersections to simplify decisions 
• Assign priority to larger vehicles that are more difficult to stop and maneuver 
• WGI staff provided an array of recommendations ranging from short-term (“low hanging fruit”) recommendations, quick build/install, and long-term recommendations allowing NAS to implement improvements based on available funds and priorities.