Charles Warner|Daily Times The spur linking the new Gonvauto facility in the Bonham community with a nearby Norfolk & Southern Railroad line is current under construction. The spur will cross S.C. 18, part of which will be closed for three days in March while the work is completed. Signs have already been posted notifying the public of the dates that section of S.C. 18 will be closed and directing motorists to follow the detour.

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Charles Warner|Daily Times Workers place the tracks that will be part of the rail spur linking the Gonvauto facility in the Bonham community with the Norfolk & Southern Railroad line on the other side of S.C. 18. While the section of the spur crossing S.C. 18 is built, that section of the highway will be closed to through traffic for three days beginning March 7.

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BONHAM — A section of S.C. 18 will be closed for three days in March to accommodate the construction of a rail spur linking a new manufacturing facility with a nearby railroad line.

Gonvauto South Carolina, LLC is a metal fabrication manufacturing facility currently under construction on a 24-acre site in the Bonham community adjacent to S.C. 18. The facility is being built by Gonvarri Steel Services, a provider of steel processing to manufacturers, to supply the adjacent Gestamp Automocion South Carolina, LLC automotive parts manufacturing plant. The Gestamp Corporation is the parent company of Gonvarri.

Gonvauto will be Gonvarri’s first steel processing center in the United States and the company plans to initially invest $35 million in the facility. The investment is projected to create 40 new jobs. The company plans to make an additional investment of $15 million and create additional 25 jobs over the next 10 years.

The facility, which is expected to begin operations by July, will have a flat steel processing capacity of 100,000 tons.

A major factor in the company’s decision to locate in Bonham was the availability of the Norfolk & Southern Railroad line that runs along S.C. 18. The raw materials the Gonvauto facility will use will be brought in by rail.

Gonvauto will be linked to the Norfolk & Southern Railroad line by a spur that’s currently under construction. The spur will cross S.C. 18 and while it is being completed that section of the highway will be closed to through traffic at 6 a.m. Thursday, March 7 and remain closed until 6 p.m. Sunday, March 10.

(In the event weather prevents the work from proceeding as planned, S.C. 18 will be closed the following weekend during the same time frame.)

While that section of S.C. 18 is closed, through traffic will be detoured along a route that will include Toney Road, U.S. 176, and Highpoint Road. Kelly Road, Pineland Road, and Pineview Road will remain open. Local traffic for residences and businesses will be maintained while the work is completed except in approximately 500 feet of the construction area.

Editor Charles Warner can be reached at 864-427-1234, ext. 14, or by email at cwarner@civitasmedia.com.