Front End

Fast—and Safe

In May, the customer startup team at Bechtel’s Alba aluminum smelter project in Bahrain has set a record for the global aluminum industry—safe startup of a new smelter reduction line in just 77 days, with no lost-time injuries. The process involved “energizing” 336 smelting pots along a 1.2-kilometer reduction line—the world’s longest.

The record-setting effort required two years of planning. The startup team set a 100-day goal, trained employees in preparing and starting the pots, and developed more than 350 specially designed safe-work processes. The expedited startup process began two weeks ahead of schedule, in February—on the second anniversary of the project’s groundbreaking.

The early commissioning means the plant will generate millions of dollars in additional revenue for the owners.

Floating on Air

Mention “raising the roof” and most people think of a party. But on a recent day at Point Fortin, Trinidad, the party had to wait until after the roof was raised. Using compressed air, 150 Bechtel and subcontractor employees raised the crown of a liquefied natural gas tank into place 32 meters above ground.

The roof-raising system required extremely precise construction of the 89-meter-diameter roof and its perimeter seal inside the concrete tank, to minimize air leaks. Then, with the aid of three powerful blowers, the 1,000-tonne carbon steel roof rose to the top rim, where it was welded in place. Counterweights and wire ropes kept the roof balanced and level through the four-hour operation.

Any of the three blowers could have done the job, but with a successful lift crucial to the project’s schedule and budget, redundancy and safety ruled the day. In addition, each blower was run by its own generator, with a fourth on standby.

Design for Living

The symptoms of Parkinson’s Disease, such as tremors and loss of balance, result from a shortage of dopamine, an essential brain chemical. Until now, positron-emission tomography (PET) scans have been the most effective—and most expensive—means of measuring a patient’s dopamine level. Enter Bechtel employee Shawn West.

Working in his spare time with a retired Bechtel employee, West has invented an electromechanical device that, used in tandem with a device developed at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, provides even more information than a $3,000 PET scan, at far less cost. The two devices measure a patient’s fatigue level and can be used in a physician’s office or at home, saving patients the cost and exertion of traveling to a medical center for the more traditional test.

Welding Goes Digital

Power, petroleum, and chemical facility owners require contractors to prove their welds pass strength, pressure, and other tests. Traditionally, testing has been conducted using film-based X-rays, which are costly, carry environmental and health risks, and are slow to process.

Now, thanks to research funded by a Bechtel technical grant, digital radiography has moved from the medical field to construction. Bechtel welding specialists worked for three years with outside experts to identify the proper test methods and the ideal type and dose of radiation, and with the American Society of Mechanical Engineers to implement a code change.

In March, a Bechtel gas plant project became the first to apply the technology. The project team examined its welds and transmitted images over the Internet for review by Bechtel specialists far from the job site. The result: better data, quicker results, much lower radiation exposure, and faster project completion.

Waste Not

When the U.S. Department of Energy asked Bechtel Jacobs in early 2002 to clean up 42 low-level radioactive waste storage tanks at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee, the contract carried an estimated cost of more than $10 million and a 54-month schedule.

Now, after just 42 months and at a cost of about $5 million, the job is done, with minimal disruption to ongoing lab operations and research activities.

The challenge was significant. The tanks, dating to World War II, were composed of different sizes and materials and were buried in a wide variety of locations, including basements, concrete vaults, and building foundations.

Working with DOE, Bechtel Jacobs developed innovative technologies for the job, borrowing ideas from as far away as Sweden, the UK, and Russia. Using remote-controlled vehicles, robotic arms, submersible mixers, and high-pressure decontamination equipment modified for remote operation, the company drained the tanks of more than 379,000 liters of radioactive liquids and sludge, then filled them with grout.

Bechtel Buzz

“Not only was the project finished on time and on budget, it also delivered a safety record that has set new benchmarks for a project of this size.”
—Comalco Aluminium Ltd. CEO Oscar Groeneveld, commenting on Bechtel’s completion of his company’s alumina refinery in Gladstone, Australia.

A View from Above

As much as two-thirds of a rain forest’s species live in its dense, uppermost layer. No wonder the scientific community finds Costa Rica’s legendary but fragile forest canopy a fascinating laboratory for monitoring ecosystems.

In February, Bechtel Nevada’s Remote Sensing Laboratory provided an aerial mapping camera, navigation systems and positioning equipment, and a technician to support NASA in a photogrammetric and remote sensing survey of Costa Rica.

Over a six-week period, daily flights acquired over 8,000 airborne images of more than 70 percent of the country. The lab flew its fixed-wing aircraft with a special NASA scanner and other equipment aboard to map canopy vegetation and the topography beneath it, including buildings, roads, and farms.

The results will help the Costa Rican government develop new maps, calculate total biomass, and monitor global climate and ecosystem changes.

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