University of Washington Medical Center H-Wing Renovation Project

As the prime mechanical contractor, BMWC was accountable for all the mechanical work for this $35 million H-Wing renovation project. The project involved upgrading a 60 year old, 150,000 sf building, which included the renovation of five floors. BMWC's $9.5 million subcontract included all of the mechanical, plumbing, HVAC, and controls.  There were very few change orders on this project for our mechanical work based on our extensive pre-planning efforts, attention to the schedule, and our Lean construction techniques. 

BP Whiting Refinery Glycol Dehydration Unit Project

From a brain storming session in 2006 until the circulation of Glycol through the Unit in 2010 the Glycol Dehydration Unit Project (GDU) has experienced many successes. The technology was chosen as the most economical way for BP utilities to remove the water carry over in their current fuel gas system. 

Using Glycol is a very common practice in the natural gas industry, but there are only a handful of units currently used in the refining industry.

The concept of the unit is very simple. Wet Fuel Gas is brought into the unit and routed through a heat exchanger and filters. From the filters it is passed through a column where glycol is used to strip the water from the gas. The gas is then sent through another filter and then sent into the refinery for fuel used in the furnaces. The glycol is then sent through a series of exchangers and equipment to be reclaimed and reused for stripping.

The BMW mechanical group put in more than 50,000 man hours over 14 months with only a couple minor first aids reported, and the project experienced zero recordables with over 140,000 man hours worked by all crafts. A special thanks to Tom Fox, the BMW General Foreman on the project who was key to keeping all crafts in constant communication and making sure all site permits were up to date and in line. 

Rick Stovall deserves special thanks for his up front lay out and estimating help on the OSBL portion of the project. The OSBL piping went in very close to Rick’s design, which allowed BMW to give a very accurately defined stage estimate.

Finally, thanks goes out to overall project superintendent Tim Hamilton. Tim ran a very good project with exceptional harmony between crafts and a safety culture which promoted zero injuries and achieved the goal with the exception of a few minor first aid visits. He was also on top of project changes which allowed RCA to justify a large amount of small bore changes due to fabrication errors.

BP Whiting Refinery Asphalt Alternate Feed to C-Rack

In August 2010, BMW was asked to help execute and lead a focused and expedited small project to field route, design, field fabricate and install approximately 3000 lf. of new asphalt, steam, and utility piping to feed C-Rack. The goal was to complete all this work in 14 weeks and stay under the CapEx challenge number.

I am proud to say that the project team efficiently and safely accomplished both these goals. There were numerous challenges the team faced other than schedule and cost, including the coordination of numerous piping line outages and tie-ins involving other units and a rail section that ran through the middle of the new asphalt re-route that had to be planned around.

Listed below are some key points that made this project successful:

• One Team Approach was utilized from the start which involved an integrated team working together in a collaborative effort.
• Client established minimum scoping documentation from the engineer in order to expedite the start of construction which enabled us to have some input as well as flexibility and creativity in the lay-out of the lines.
• We conducted an interactive planning session (IAP) involving the client and various contractors to establish a schedule and identify any agreements/constraints impacting the project.
• The amount of communication and coordination between all parties.
• Planning and loading labor plans into COINS for all contractors which served to monitor craft performance and projected completion cost compared to budget.
• Identifying and processing timely change orders which provided client timely budget deviation indications.
• Conducting weekly site meetings to review action item lists and discuss project control plans that were established as to when piping line outages and tie-ins would need to be performed to ensure project success.

To sum up what made this project so successful, it was COMMUNICATION, COMMUNICATION, COMMUNICATION!  In my mind, you can never communicate enough.

Larry Hakes, BP-Project Engineer, states “The Asphalt C-Rack Redeployment Project has been recognized by the highest level of BP Management as an exceptional well executed piece of work. BP Whiting Refinery Business will benefit by the timely delivery of this very successful project.” 

Submitted By: Dave Pasyk

NIPSCO Conveyor Replacement Project

On January 8, 2009, an accidental fire and an explosion destroyed the majority of the C8 Coal Transport Conveyor at the NIPSCO Michigan City, Indiana Generating Station. With no other means of transporting coal into the station during the ice and cold of winter, the 450 Mega Watt, Unit 12 Generator was left inoperable.

An immediate engineering review of the C8 Conveyor resulted in the decision to replace 80% of the entire coal conveyor. However, during the demolition phase, additional investigations determined that NIPSCO would need to replace 100% of the coal conveyor and structure.

BMW Constructors, Inc. was requested to take the lead on the project as the general, industrial contractor for the replacement of the C8 Coal Conveyor. A project team was on-site the next day to assess the damage.  Construction strategies were being developed by BMW and NIPSCO to secure the area and stabilize the conveyor structure in the sub-zero winter weather to prevent any further property damage.  Safety of all associated personnel was always the prevailing factor in every decision made by the project team.

In an astonishing time period of just over three months following this catastrophic and unfortunate event, the damaged coal conveyor was safely removed and replaced with a new coal conveyor system redesigned to meet new code requirements and Unit 12 was once again operational and producing electricity for Northwest Indiana.

The dedication, craftsmanship, hard work and focus of BMW and all of the other subcontractors involved, added to the success of this very challenging project.  The conclusion to this unexpected, yet critical incident was a quality installation completed in an extraordinary time frame and most important, despite the substantial potential for injury, an accident-free project.

Because of BMW's outstanding performance, BMW was awarded the Industrial Project of the Year by the Construction Advancement Foundation (CAF).

Portland International Airport Deicing Collection and Treatment System Enhancement Project