PCL’s first major petrochemical project on the Gulf Coast was a big one.

Dow’s Gulfstream Poly 5 Plant is part of the multibillion-dollar Gulfstream Program, bringing more than $6 billion in petrochemical assets to Texas and Louisiana. Constructed on greenfield land, Poly 5 uses feedstock ethane and U.S. sourced propane to produce ethylene — more than 1.5 tons per year — that travels into the rest of the chemical plant.

As the general contractor on the project, PCL prepared the site for all structural concrete associated with civil, underground piping, cooling tower basin, structural steel and precast installation. PCL also handled the equipment setting, piping installation, electrical cable tray, conduit, wiring and termination, dealing in some very big numbers:

• 45,000 cubic yards of concrete
• 30,000 cubic yards of structural steel
• 245,000 linear feet of pipe
• 1,000,000 linear feet of wiring and cable

With a workforce of 1750 staff and craft on site at peak (and a peak lasting almost eight months overall), PCL executed over 4.5 million labor hours on the project in wet, muddy and flooding conditions.

As the larger Gulfstream program progressed, delays crept into the overall project with some key deliverables arriving to site at Poly 5 up to 17 months late. Despite these scheduling challenges, the team was able to accelerate construction on the plant and reduce the scheduling impact to only three months.

Our team reduced the impact of schedule delays by opening multiple work fronts and performing work out of sequence where possible. We utilized increased overtime shifts and additional labor to assist with the flexible execution approach and to reduce the delay in the schedule.

In addition to work front flexibility and increased craft resources, the project team employed creative solutions for construction execution. PCL’s team saved six months on the erection of the 300-foot-tall silo distribution structure by assembling the super-structure on the ground before utilizing a self-propelled modular transporter and heavy lift crane to move the modules through the site and lift them into place.

PCL’s innovative approach to construction execution significantly reduced the impact of delayed early project milestone on the completion of the work. Through flexible work front planning, productive craft labor and execution creativity, our team provided a comprehensive solution to complete construction of the project and limit the exposure of early delays.