|
Wilmington,
DE—
Hercules Paper Technologies, the
world's largest specialty chemical supplier to the pulp and
paper industry, relocated critical lab facilities, including a
unique papermaking machine, from Jacksonville, FL to Wilmington,
DE.
The operations in the new 10,000 s.f.
Paper Applications Laboratory are the core of Hercules Paper
Technologies research. The state-of-the-art customer
applications facility houses a pilot papermaking machine and
paper testing laboratory, which tests all types of paper for
size, strength, and printability.
According to Dr. Richard Royce,
Director of Technology for Hercules Paper Technologies and
Ventures, the paper machine in the laboratory is the only one of
its kind in the world, with the ability to test up to 30
different conditions at one time and the capability to make
rolls of paper from pulp. “The chemicals that Hercules sells to
the paper industry are used in 70% of the world’s paper
tonnage,” Royce said.
Hercules hired Nason Construction,
headquartered in Wilmington, as the design-builder for this very
critical and highly technical project that required both the
construction of a new facility and the relocation of the
intricate equipment. Nason teamed with Joseph T. Farina
Architects along with the mechanical, electrical, and plumbing
engineer Delaware Engineering Design Corporation (DEDC);
pharmaceutical, industrial, and fabrication contractors MDavis;
and structural engineer, O’Donnell Naccarato MacIntosh.
In addition to the paper machine, the
new facility also houses a Constant Temperature Constant
Humidity (CTCH) Lab for testing of paper and paperboard
products. DEDC had to design the CTCH testing lab to adhere to
an exact temperature requirement, and used a chilled water
system to help better regulate the temperature.
The Nason design-build team had to
design and construct the new facility in only a few months and
had ten weeks to disassemble the equipment, relocate it from
Jacksonville to Wilmington, and reassemble to be ready for use.
This included eight tractor trailer shipments of equipment,
consisting of hundreds of wiring and piping connections.
Extensive surveys were conducted by MDavis prior to disassembly
to ensure accuracy when the equipment was reconnected.
“The Nason team’s scheduling was
outstanding,” said Steve Rumanek, Project Manager from Hercules,
“They ensured that the subcontractors did the work well and kept
the schedule. Nason said they would complete it on schedule and
budget, and they did.”
Construction schedule coordination
typically involves daily production items, however on this job,
tasks were coordinated in hourly increments. The team worked 12
hours a day, 7 days a week. The process of installing the
equipment in the new facility often required around 50
construction personnel to be working simultaneously, and at
times there were up to14 forklifts working concurrently inside
the lab.
Additionally, the construction of the
new facility took place on a tight, restrictive site that
presented numerous challenges. Underground steam trenches ran
beneath a sidewalk only 10 feet from the exterior wall of the
new facility, while on the opposite side an old building was
being demolished during construction.
Problems arose as processing equipment
was being reassembled, which had to be remedied immediately.
Commissioning of the various components as they were installed
played a key factor in ensuring that the equipment ultimately
performed as desired and on schedule. The Nason team
successfully completed the project on time and within budget in
spite of the unique challenges. Through Nason’s thorough
coordination of this entire process, the new lab was operational
by Labor Day weekend.
The facility was officially dedicated
during the 75th anniversary celebration of Hercules
Research Center in early October of this year – less than a
year after the decision to consolidate the research and
development and customer applications facility into the
Wilmington Research Center was announced in Nov. 2005.
Established in 1922, Nason
Construction, Inc. provides construction management,
design-build and general contracting services for commercial,
institutional, and government clients throughout the
Mid-Atlantic. Headquartered in Wilmington, DE, Nason
Construction maintains regional offices in Philadelphia, PA.,
and Salisbury, MD.
# # #
For more information on Nason Construction, Inc. please contact
Julleanna Seely at jseely@nasonconstruction.com
|
