In 2006, Pala participated in the erection of a wet gas scrubber at Motiva’s Convent, Louisiana facility.  The project had an initial value of $6 million, but as other contractors fell behind schedule, Pala assumed additional responsibilities, increasing the scope of its work by more than 200% to over $18 million.  When Pala assumed responsibility for completion of the project, erection of the vessel was 66 days behind schedule.  Initially scheduled to work five 10-hour shifts weekly, Pala agreed to work seven 12-hour shifts per week, plus eight weeks of day and night shifts.  Despite a four-week delay in materials delivery and the issuance of 817 drawings after field installation had begun, the Company regained 35 of the 66 days by the time of the project’s completion.

The Company staffed 217 employees in 11 disciplines at the project’s peak, and completed the project with less than 1% craft rework and 10% productivity loss, despite a workforce that was significantly depleted as a result of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.  Due to the difficult environmental conditions and size constraints, the client’s project manager expected 30% productivity loss, with some contractors on the project experiencing losses of more than 60%.  Pala and the 25 subcontractors it managed completed more than 300,000 man hours without a recordable injury, making it the only contractor involved in the project to do so.

As a result of its excellent performance on the wet gas scrubber project, Pala was recognized by both Motiva and Jacobs for its employees’ attitudes, honesty, integrity and commitment to safety.  The Company received a 200% rating; equivalent to the Construction Institute’s rating of “World-Class”, from Jacobs for the quality control portion of its work.

EXXONMOBIL GULF COAST TANK FARM MAINTENANCE

Pala maintains a unit price contract with ExxonMobil to provide all of its tank farm maintenance and repair work in its Gulf Coast refineries.  Pala was the first tank maintenance provider to develop a process to execute work under a unit-price agreement in cooperation with the customer.  Using this process, all tank repair activities are pre-priced and based on a cost per unit.  This shortens procurement lead-times and provides the client with a more controllable budget.  One of the Company’s major clients believes that by utilizing Pala as its single-source provider of tank farm maintenance and repairs in these facilities, it achieves 14% total maintenance cost savings and a seven to ten week time savings on an average tank turnaround.

An example of Pala’s ability to provide superior service with short lead-times was the “GH-101” tank in ExxonMobil’s Baytown, TX refinery.  The Company was contacted on a Friday afternoon in October 2006 to remove and replace a bladder inside the 3,000-pound gas holder.  Exxon estimated that each day the tank was offline cost the facility $200,000 and was therefore adamant that the project be completed on time.  Pala had never before performed a bladder job and was unfamiliar with the tools necessary to perform the work.

Despite its lack of direct experience, two full days of rain delay and a complete shift dedicated to rework as a result of a facility procurement problem, the Company completed the project ahead of schedule, under budget and with zero safety infractions.  Pala managed to accomplish the whole job in nine days of two, 12-hour shifts; the previous contractor had taken 12 days with twice as many workers for the same scope of work.
 

NASA’S MICHOUD ASSEMBLY FACILITY LOCKHEED MARTIN CORPORATION - REHAB FINAL ASSEMBLY, BLDG. 103 PROJECT

New Orleans, Louisiana

As the successful bidder of this $10.6 million competitively bid lump sum project, Pala accepted the challenges of this schedule driven twelve month project. The scope included installation of roof top air conditioning equipment, a new breathing air system, and piping systems installed at a 60’ elevation in the 44 acre building. Scheduling and coordination of large subcontracts including electrical, instrumentation, insulation, sheetmetal ducting, and asbestos removal were critical to the overall project success.

Pala successfully met the project completion schedule, as well as achieving numerous milestone completion dates, despite significant delays due to the ongoing space shuttle tank fabrication operations.

Pala was also completing another $7 million of construction projects at the site currently with the Final Assembly Project.

MOTIVA NORCO FELICIANA PIPELINE PROJECT
Norco, Louisiana

The Feliciana Pipeline project in Motiva’s Norco, LA facility presented unique challenges for Pala.  The project had an original value of $4 million, which grew to $8.25 million by completion.  When the project timeline had to be accelerated due to the expected completion of a related pipeline, Pala’s team developed a creative solution to debottleneck the facility’s large gas blender in time for the completion of the related pipeline.

The Company performed approximately 144,000 manhours with a peak labor force of 150 people.  Pala’s efforts led to a leak-free start-up and met the accelerated timeline despite 544 field change orders.

BORDEN CHEMICAL, INC.,
Geisimar, Louisiana

NEW FORMALDEHYDE PLANT PROJECT:

In 2000, Pala performed the design and construction on a new $27 million total installed cost formaldehyde plant in Geismar, Louisiana for Borden Chemicals.  The project’s scope included all related civil, structural, equipment and piping work at a total price of $8.1 million.   

The project began five months later than originally scheduled due to permitting issues and Pala arranged to field erect tanks to regain eight weeks of the lost time.  The Company’s employees performed nearly 70% of the work and completed construction two weeks of ahead of schedule with no issues on start-up.  Pala was awarded the Associated Builders and Contractors (“ABC”) Eagle Award for Excellence in Construction for its execution of the project.
 

Photo 1: Pala-Interstate, LLC's. design incoroprated installation of major process equipment as seen being installed with a 225 ton DEMAG crane

Photo 2:  Pala-Interstate, LLC. used constructability in order to set and erect the building around the equipment