Fluor and Dow Chemical Co. relied on innovation and collaboration to bring on line a $1.5-billion ethylene production facility as the first new major ethylene facility to take advantage of the low natural-gas prices in the Gulf Coast’s shale region. The facility in Freeport, Texas, is the cornerstone of Dow’s $6-billion Gulf Coast investment program. Dow and Fluor leveraged lessons learned from previous joint projects and truly worked as one team, according to the Dow Gulfstream LHC-9 project team. “Both Fluor and Dow ‘walked the talk,’ which resulted in a fantastic project [that met] the objectives of both organizations,” the Dow project team noted.

To bring the massive project to completion, Fluor used multiple international engineering centers and global experts, the Dow project team said. Tower cranes were used for the project, an innovative concept that improved safety and efficiency. At peak construction, 3,000 craftworkers were needed in the labor-constrained U.S. Gulf Coast. To help alleviate some of the labor demand, Fluor had a team in Mexico building prefabricated pieces, which were shipped to Texas.

The project overcame major flooding at a Louisiana facility that was fabricating pipe for the project. With some quick thinking, the team rerouted shipping and brought spools on site to complete the pipes in Freeport. 

A focus on safety, including a one-week trial qualification for craftworkers to confirm safety adherence, allowed the company to achieve 5 million consecutive work-hours—more than two years—without a lost-time injury or illness, out of a total of 8.6 million work-hours.

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