Turner Industries has watched the demand for modular services increase dramatically over the past few years and has made major investments in its module assembly and fabrication facilities to meet that demand. As the cost of fabrication and construction continues to rise, owners are looking for the most efficient methods to build their projects. Driven by the demand for skilled craftsmen and the increase in labor rates, per diems and turnover, Turner’s modular capabilities for building process units and pipe racks provide a solution to these challenges.
“Turner is capable of delivering a complete turnkey module, with the exception of engineering, that is fully tested, insulated and ready to install,” said Carlos Guidry, Turner’s modular fabrication construction manager. He cites recently completed projects that have varied in type from pipe racks to process skids for downstream, midstream and upstream applications.
Examples of these projects include 78 barge-sized pipe modules sent to locations in Louisiana and Southeast Texas; 120 truckable pipe rack and process modules shipped from Turner’s Port Allen, La., and Corpus Christi, Texas, yards to a location in Mont Belvieu, Texas; and one of the largest chemical injection skids built in the United States (146 tons) shipped overseas for installation. Offshore modules have tough fabrications and painting requirements because of the conditions in which they will be installed. They require exotic metals and attention to unique details, like painting the inside of the bolt holes.
Modular fabrication improves safety, quality and schedule, thereby reducing cost. Risk exposure is greatly reduced in a module fabrication facility and also at the jobsite due to the relocation of scope of work labor hours. With assembly performed more safely at floor level inside the shop, there is less vertical work. On-site OSHA exposure hours can be reduced almost 3 to 1.
Quality is significantly improved because the work can take place 24 hours a day, seven days a week in a controlled environment. Turner’s Port Allen facility has a 24,000-square-foot, high ceiling bay for assembly of alloy and climate sensitive modules. System testing can be performed prior to shipment resulting in quicker startups and process design reviews and revisions can be made more efficiently in the shop environment.
Performing module fabrication simultaneously with on-site work is significant to reducing the job schedule. Elimination of permit delays, implementation of multiple work shifts, reduced absenteeism and turnover result in higher productivity. A shorter schedule means early production and a chance to increase profits for the owner.
Turner’s five modular locations in Port Allen; Pasadena, Paris and Corpus Christi, Texas; and Decatur, Ala., comprise nearly a million square feet of fabrication, clean room, climate controlled painting space and laydown yards with the ability to ship by truck, rail and deepwater access. With in-house heavy hauling and rigging capabilities comparable to none, Turner Industries expects to set the standard in modular fabrication and construction in the coming years.
For more information, contact Milt Cousins at (713) 470-9061, email mcousins@turner-industries.com or visit www.turner-industries.com.
