Heavy rains and historic flooding threatened the progress of the Tiger AO4 project. But by acting and thinking quickly, the management team of Shell, Turner and Jacobs was able to overcome a series of challenges during the 30-month project.

The Tiger AO4 project adds 425,000 tons of capacity at Shell’s Geismar facility and makes the site the largest alpha-olefins producer in the world.

During civil construction in April 2016, workers dug down 5 ft to form the foundation. This created a “bathtub” effect for the entire site. In the months that followed, southeastern Louisiana experienced above-average rainfall that saturated the ground and prevented it from compacting. The management team worked quickly to bring in lime-stabilized dirt to reach compaction.

In August 2016, the area experienced the worst flooding in its history. Many employees lost their homes and were unable to work, which put the project at risk of falling behind schedule. The management team offered employees additional weekend hours to allow them to make extra money, while also helping the project gain back lost time.

Over the course of 5.4 million man-hours, crews logged an OSHA recordable incident rate of just 0.15. The safety program included a heat-stress plan that featured 14 cool-down stations across the site and a zero-incident performance and observation program.

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