Industry publication, December 2001

NYC 9/11 Public Portal Document

c PA N I E b.

Shortage of Qualified Contractors Opens Doors for New Contenders But experienced engineers on team remain indispensable ■ n response to the abrupt for industrial contractors, says ■ halt to nearly all construc- Charles E. Crocker Jr., vice ■ tion in the microelectron­ president of engineering and ics market, a contractor long construction for Reliant Ener­ successful in that industry gy Wholesale Group, Hous­ recently polled professional ton. “Contractor availability staffers about prior work has become a nightmare experience. He found a sub­ recently.” Where once it was stantial number had done possible to get a constructor powerplant engineering or on board 24 months before a construction. The contractor ir* powerplant’s scheduled com- now is considering how to mercial-operation date, the crack the power market. 1 J time required has grown to a Success in power hinges C 30-month minimum, he says. on good estimating, proper attention to risk allocation, 5. EXPERIEN^ qualified people and cost Having an experienced pow- and schedule controls, says erplant engineer on the team Bob Milhiser. But the power is key, says Crocker. “Guys division vice president of who’ve mantled large proj­ engineer-constructor Burns ects can manage powerplant & Roe Enterprises Inc., projects as long as engineer­ Oradell, N.J., says new play­ ing help is part of the team,” ers must “understand the he says. power business—what assets A few years ago, a Reliant or qualities could they project was built by an engi­ bring?” He advises looking neer and constructor who for a niche where a newcom­ “were not well known for er can apply its strengths. powerplant projects,” says Experience in process­ Crocker. They did well industry construction—pulp enough on plant construc- and paper, petrochemicals tion, but got into trouble in and fertilizer—is good prepa- the startup phase. “The team ration to compete in power- didn’t have the technical plant construction, Milhiser ItaMM B depth that we need,” he says. notes. A contractor without i Last summer. Reliant’s 10- process-industry experience MMRl ! unit, 870-Mw merchant plant could gain entree by focusing BOOPSIHG Gas-fired generation continues market dominance. in Aurora, Ill., was completed more narrowly. A microelec- on time by a team composed tronics-industry contractor, for example, costly. “The first time we do a power proj- of Graycor Inc., Homewood, Ill.; Sachs „ might provide instrumentation and con- ect in each of our companies, it is not as Electric Co., Chesterfield, Mo.; and s trols for powerplants. profitable as the next ones,” he says. Chicago-based Sargent & Lundy LLC. g “It looks like connecting wires,” says “Probably the most important thing is to “Graycor has a great reputation, just not | Jeffrey M. Levy, president and COO of recognize that you don’t know what you on powerplants per se,” says Crocker. 5 Norwalk, Conn.-based specialty contrac- don’t know. You can understand the “They have some people on the team S tor EMCOR Group Inc. “But it’s really skills, read the drawings, but the flow of who do have some powerplant expert- § about understanding the flow of the the work and construction sequence and ence.” But S&L’s strong powerplant | job.” Many of the approximately 45 elec- access are crucial.” experience helped assure the team’s sue- S trical and mechanical contractors that The backlog of gas-turbine orders has cess. Now, ajoint venture of Graycor and | belong to the EMCOR group of compa- attracted more attention, but a similar Murphy Co. Mechanical Contractors & g nies serve the powerplant construction shortage of experienced powerplant Engineers, St. Louis, will be teamed o market, but their learning curve was constructors has created an opportunity again with S&L for engineering and con- |

POWERPLANT CONSTRUCTION* I I

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