Our dedication to building better is cultivating success on and off-site. Leading with safety first and foremost while executing well-thought out plans and proactive construction, Performance Contractors earned national merits for two projects: the Innophos Evaporator Project and the Marathon Renewable Diesel Project.
Working through the height of the COVID-19 pandemic was no small feat, and both projects required significant shifts in plans to ensure safety and quality. Our teams united to confront these challenges by putting together COVID-19 rapid response teams that consisted of members from all companies involved in the projects to navigate policies and procedures.
Innophos Evaporator Project
During this $1.79 million project, our team relied heavily on adaptability and proactive responses to successfully complete an evaporator system installation in Geismar, Louisiana. Performance Contractors scope of work included erecting a structural steel stair module, setting a process module, new pipe fabrication and assembly, among other things.
On top of working on a tight, 2-month time frame at the height of a pandemic, the Performance team also faced delays and miscommunications in delivery of the steel stairway and process module, which unexpectedly arrived in individual pieces. When the unassembled stair module arrived on site, the team quickly responded by bringing in a steel superintendent and transferred in steel ironworkers from another job site to assemble the stairway module on the ground in the work area where it was to be installed.
Due to issues with the vendor’s assembly scheduling, the delivery date of the module slipped several times, leaving a 500 ton crane’s original mobilization date impossible to meet and became quite costly to hold idle. Many pieces of the module were delivered in separate trucks and Performance spent countless hours spent sifting through unlabeled & mislabeled material. Performance provided pricing to set and install the 76,000lb unit, fabricated supports for the module, reworked the timeframe and scopes of installation, and finished the project before Innophos flicked the switch of the evaporator system.
With any project, you can have a great plan and do your best to execute your plan, but learning how to adapt, respond, and be proactive in the face of challenges is the key to providing the best service possible.
Marathon Renewable Diesel Project
In this $24.1 million project, Performance Contractors was selected as the mechanical contractor for phase 2 construction of a new Diesel Hydrotreater Unit (DHT) in Dickinson, North Dakota, to convert their recently acquired Dickinson Refinery into a 100% Renewable Diesel plant and meet RINS and LCFS obligations. In addition to field execution, Performance Contractors was also responsible for offsite pipe fabrication.
With the delayed engineering and procurement, shifts in procedures due to COVID-19, and an aggressive schedule, it was quickly realized just how challenging the level of coordination would be — but our team was up for it. We quickly worked with the engineers to develop an integrated plan and deliverables schedule for cross-country deliveries to support a field execution strategy that took into account inclement weather conditions in North Dakota.
Performance utilized our proprietary weld tracking systems, detailed work breakdown structure, and Test Package Status Log (TPSL) to track progress from start through completion. We put together a field management team that worked together with Marathon to set the project up on the front end with great facilities, parking, restrooms, a clean worksite, and project expectations that everyone bought in on from the beginning. All of these factors along with open communication, respect, and teamwork mentality positively impacted the project morale directly contributing to the success of the executing over 238,000 safe working man-hours and a TRIR of 0.00 and 0 lost time injuries.
The Performance Way
While the circumstances of the pandemic created extraordinary challenges for our entire industry, our team’s initiative and problem-solving skills, more than ever before, brought successful ends to complicated projects.
With challenging scopes and other significant obstacles, our team’s ability and ingenuity to come together to reach a common goal was tested. It was our leaders and employees who made these projects successful.
Through carefully practiced safety initiatives, an adaptable work ethic, proactive construction solutions and a focus on living out our core values, the Performance team truly exemplifies our commitment to build with excellence in mind. We’re honored to be named Eagle Winners for our innovation and workmanship, and we celebrate our team’s hard work and achievements.
