PROJECT
PROFILES

Shell Chemical Corporation GOAL Venture Project

This project won an ABC Pelican Chapter Merit Award and was also selected by Louisiana Contractor Magazine as one of its "Best of 2002" Construction Projects.

During the fourth quarter of 2000, the Shell Chemical Corporation approved a major expansion project at its Geismar, Louisiana, chemical plant facility. The Shell GOAL (Geismar Olefins and Alcohol) Venture Project was to be one of the largest construction projects ever undertaken at the complex. The objective was to construct a completely new OIU Unit, a third alpha olefins unit (AO-3), a K-five unit and de-bottlenecking system (Centipede) to tie them into the existing plant structure. Fluor Daniel in Sugarland, Texas; S&B in Houston, Texas; and Ford, Bacon and Davis in Baton Rouge, Louisiana were hired to perform engineering services. Fluor Daniel was employed to act as construction program manager to oversee the effort.

In the first quarter of 2001, ISC was awarded a contract to install all electrical and temporary power systems on the GOAL Venture project. ISC's manpower peaked at 176 associates and averaged 115 on site. During the course of this 22-month, $13,000,000 project, ISC associates worked a total of 392,000 man-hours in four major areas: the OIU unit, AO-3 unit, K-five unit and Centipede.

As early as the bidding stage, ISC demonstrated innovative thinking by submitting a list by name of over 230 associates who had worked at Shell Chemical's Geismar Facility from 1995 to 2000 without a recordable injury, all of whom were available for the project.

It was believed that this impressive list of resources and our reputation for skilled, well- trained craft professionals (as evidenced by our 200-trainee average participation in the Pelican Chapter ABC Training Program) were key factors in the decision to award the contract to ISC.

In order to fulfill the project's objectives, a mosaic of events had to take place. Centipede was the offsite portion of the GOAL Venture project. The new work associated with Centipede interfaced with the exiting base plant, which made it imperative not to disrupt day-to-day operations. The bulk of the work involved the installation of nine new pre- fabricated substations connected to existing substations via a new power quality management system. The power for these new substations flowed through 31 miles of 15KV cable with 134 high-voltage splices, many performed in live cable raceways. There were 42 cutovers associated with these substations. Other highlights: a large cooling tower run by three motors; a massive c-4 sphere; an alpha-olefins tank farm; a marine vapor-recovery system; 400 light fixtures; 23,500 feet of cable tray; 60,800 feet of conduit; 6,000 terminations; a totally enclosed ground flare and a Gaitronics PA/Phone system fully integrated into the base plant.

The AO-3 is the largest of the three units, the third of its kind at Shell Chemical. Included in AO-3's 14 acres are two 2,500-horsepower compressors; two 4,160-volt transformers and two 480-volt transformers; an electrical substation; 99 motors; 505 light fixtures and 5,500 feet of cable tray. Overall, the AO-3 unit is more than two football fields long.

The K-five is an eight-story unit that includes two 1,250-horsepower / 4,160-volt compressors; a four-motor control-center lineup; 400-amp switchgear; 2,500-KVA transformer; 51 motors; 28,000 feet of conduit of cable tray; 145,000 feet of wire; 5,300 terminations and 293 light fixtures.

A new seven-story unit, OIU, was also included in the scope of work. It included a 275- horsepower / 4,160-volt compressor; 62 motors; more than 13,000 feet of wire; 12,500 feet of conduit and cable tray; 3,000 terminations and 190 light fixtures.

The project was completed in June of 2002. ISC had invested a total of 392,000 man- hours without any significant safety-incidents, recordables or lost-time injuries of any kind, completing the job on time and under budget.