Cheniere Energy’s Corpus Christi facility in Texas is the first liquefied natural gas export terminal built in the U.S. in almost 50 years. While construction by Bechtel is still continuing on the site with additional trains until 2022, the first stage—which included two LNG production trains, two tanks, one complete berth and a second partial berth—began production in November 2018. A second stage, which included one more LNG train, an additional tank and completion of the second berth, reached substantial completion in August.

The cost for the two stages was $11.5 billion, and Bechtel was awarded two multibillion lump-sum turnkey contracts for the engineering, procurement, construction, commissioning and startup of the plant.

“Cheniere trusted our integrated, direct-hire EPC model, innovation and our philosophy of ‘design it once and build it many times,’ which have allowed us to exceed their expectations by lowering cost, shortening delivery schedules and providing greater certainty of outcome,” says Bhupesh Thakkar, senior vice president, Bechtel program manager for Cheniere projects.

The team used more than 20 innovative solutions, including drones and robotic process automation bots. Bechtel also utilized workers from as far away as India and Australia. The company took advantage of a global supply chain but also considered the sustainability and needs of the local community. Judges commented positively on how Bechtel brought together three business lines and integrated a global workforce, and on how the project blends into the natural surroundings and preserves the heritage of the site.

The trains were largely replicated from a previous LNG project, which reduced potential rework and assured the design’s functionality.

Weather delays affected the site, including Hurricane Harvey in 2017. Mitigation and quick cleanup helped the project stay on track and on budget.

Because 88% of the project workforce had Hispanic or Latino backgrounds, Bechtel and Cheniere partnered with the National Hispanic Entrepreneurs’ Organization Institute to identify and eliminate barriers among its non-native English speakers.

The first train started production less than 43 months from notice to proceed, 22 weeks ahead of contract schedule.

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