By 2030, the U.S. power industry anticipates demand will increase 30 percent. Needless to say, the future looks bright for NAES, as well as one of its preferred multiservice vendors, Safway Services.
“We provide NAES with world-class insulation, corrosion under insulation management, industrial coatings, fireproofing, tank linings and abatement, in addition to comprehensive scaffold and access solutions,” said Safway Vice President of National/Strategic Accounts Bob Viscomi. “Over the years, we’ve been able to help NAES lower total installed costs while also improving safety and increasing efficiency.”
Recently, Safway provided insulation and access services for NAES during the spring outage at the Green Country Energy facility, a 810-megawatt (MW) combined-cycle natural gas-fired electric generating facility in Jenks, Okla. “Services included removal and re-insulation to allow for NDT inspection as well as scaffolding,” said Malachi Millard, Safway Services’ branch manager in Tulsa, Okla.
Safway also provided access services to NAES facilities in Ames, Iowa, and Fremont, Neb. NAES performed turbine-related work at these two coal-fired power plants, with respective capacities of 98 MW and 130 MW.
At these and other facilities, Matt Dissmeyer, Safway branch manager in Omaha, Neb., noticed a trend. “We’re being asked to do more in a shorter time frame,” he said. “Fortunately, we’re able to work well in these scenarios because of the many products and services we offer, and the amount of experience we have.”
While more traditional scaffolding is the right solution in some instances, suspended access systems provided NAES with an estimated cost savings of 40 percent on a recent boiler project.
The Rosebud Power Plant near Colstrip, Mont., is a 41.5-MW coal-fired facility that has a dual-cell fluidized bed boiler. Tomi Umemoto, who is now Safway branch manager in Corpus Christi, Texas, worked with NAES on maintenance shutdowns at the Rosebud plant.
“We custom designed and installed two motorized dance floors that would ride up and down inside the boiler, so personnel could conduct inspections and perform repairs,” said Umemoto.
Each dance floor measured about 11 feet by 11 feet. “These motorized dance floors enhanced safety because they decreased the likelihood of someone falling or a dropped equipment incident,” said Umemoto. “They also reduced installed cost by an estimated 40 percent and probably saved 70 percent in man-hours during erection and dismantle.”
QuikDeck® provides key advantages
“These are significant savings and safety gains, even on a small project,” noted Umemoto. “However, our QuikDeck® Suspended Access System can provide even greater advantages.”
QuikDeck can be assembled from just a few basic components and configured to fit almost any size or shape to create level, factory floor working conditions. QuikDeck can also be built in the air from an access point or on the ground and then hoisted into position.
Viscomi said Safway works hard to earn its spot every day with NAES. “We don’t take anything for granted,” he said. “We work to continually improve our services.”
For more information, visit www.safway.com or call (800) 558-4772.
