The Skyfall plant involved the reassembly of mostly modular package units within an existing building. These units, manufactured both in the U.S. and Germany, arrived as shipping boxes full of valves and equipment. This required a specialized approach to logistics and assembly.

Photo courtesy Scott Greci

Placing these heavy preassembled units onto their foundations required an intricate maneuvering process because the foundation embeds were already in place from the building’s original construction. Crews lifted units with jacks and placed them on large dollies, positioned them with a forklift, then used a 15-ton hydraulic crane for precise placement. The accurate alignment and connection of these units was done alongside fabrication and installation efforts on 24,000 linear ft of pipe.

Throughout construction, the owner made frequent design revisions, so change orders were commonplace, reaching 80 at one point. With a constantly evolving scope of work, which included revising routing, rearranging equipment and upsizing or downsizing components, the contractor utilized a highly agile project management methodology.

Since piping modifications were constant, the contractor’s pipe fabrication shop a mile from the site had to remain flexible with rapid pivots to new drawing sets and reprioritized pipe fabrication sequences. However, this process also made scheduling a challenge, requiring daily meetings and detailed task planning.

Quality control inspectors at the fabrication shop and in the field ensured a seamless transition from fabrication to installation.