Even with all the hurdles COVID-19 has created for industry during the past two years, International Cooling Tower (ICT) continues to build on its success.
ICT's commitment to safety, quality, innovation, engineering, project planning and environmental sustainability has been the focus of its business practices for the past 60-plus years.
ICT started as a small company focused on optimizing facilities' cooling capabilities by using only the highest-quality materials and components. This still holds true today, but ICT has grown over the years into a North American market leader in industrial cooling tower design, manufacturing and field services. ICT has expanded across the U.S., with offices in locations such as Deer Park and La Porte, Texas; Phoenix, Arizona; and Edmonton, Alberta. Integrity, experience and striving for innovative solutions have formed the foundation on which ICT's current longterm business relationships are built.
"We have industry-leading experience and the best talent in the business," said Brent Middleton, CEO of ICT. "Our people are solutions-driven; they're smart, hard-working, and embrace innovation and technology. I think those two strengths - our experience and our people - will continue to serve us well as we move into the future."
According to Middleton, ICT enjoys building relationships with its customers.
"Time after time, we show our customers how we operate," he said. "ICT executes its projects well. When we show up on a site, the customer knows what they're going to get: a strong, turnkey project that's completed on time, within budget and safely. We have long-standing relationships with our customers, some dating back over 50 years."
Putting ICT's expertise on display
ICT provides turnkey industrial cooling tower solutions that offer clients enhanced cost management and a dedicated design, engineering, procurement, construction management and implementation team that ensures a project is completed on time and within budget.
When a power plant in the Midwest needed two nine-cell cross-flow cooling towers replaced, it called on ICT. These cooling towers were built in the 1970s, and ICT had been on-site several times during the past couple of years to perform maintenance work. In 2019, ICT was called in to make emergency repairs, including replacing all internal filling within the two towers.
"These cooling towers are a critical component of our facility and key to the operation of it," said a senior project manager at the power plant. "Every 10 years, we have to go in and make structural replacements. While in the process of ICT's repair work, we realized the cooling tower structures were in a condition where we wouldn't expect them to make it another 10 years unassisted."
ICT agreed with the facility that the towers were in "pretty bad shape," installing temporary shoring to hold the towers up until the plant decided on the next step. The site determined the most cost-effective solution was to completely rebuild the towers in two phases.
"We chose ICT for these tower rebuilds because of its excellent safety record," the project manager said. "Also, the company performs a lot of work in Canada, which is a very comparable climate to us. We needed our cooling towers to run in the summer, not the winter, so I knew the construction timeline could potentially cover harsh weather conditions: snow, ice, etc. I liked that ICT would be accustomed to the work from a scheduling and planning standpoint. I knew a few other individuals who had worked with ICT before, and I was able to tour a tower ICT had built at a nearby site. I saw their workmanship and that they built a strong, reliable tower. After touring the tower ICT built at the other site, I knew that's what we wanted at our facility."
In April 2020, ICT started phase one and held daily conference calls, determining what would work best for the plant when it came to specifications, budgets, procedures, etc.
"When you're dealing with towers that were built in the 1970s, you're dealing with old drawings," said Brad Vickers, director of engineering for ICT. "There are always surprises when you're dealing with something built that long ago. For example, when we were on-site, we came across some unlabeled conduits and cables that took everyone by surprise. In regard to engineering, we had to come up with a design that would tie in to the existing concrete basin."
During planning, an important detail to note was the plant's cooling tower operations were seasonal, and the towers only ran during the warmer months. Vickers explained that the power plant used river water during its operations, and there's an environmental restriction on how warm the water can be when it's returned to the river.
"The plant doesn't use the towers during the winter months, but in the summer months, they need to be fully operational," said Shaun MacKeigan, project director for ICT. "As a result, there was a time constraint, and we had to have the tower fully functional in the spring of 2021 - only six months after starting the project. We started construction in the fall of 2020, demolishing the tower to the concrete basin and building up from that. We completed the project on time, and it was crucial we did so. If the cooling towers aren't performing during the summer months, the plant has to de-rate, and it can't run at full capacity. You don't want a facility to have to de-rate at any time."
According to MacKeigan, phase one of the project also involved a large union workforce. These local unions included carpenters, electricians, pipefitters, laborers, operators and millwrights.
When ICT shows up on-site, the customer knows what it’s getting: a strong, turnkey project that’s completed on time, within budget and safely.
ICT performs many of its larger projects with union workers, who are certified and skilled for cooling tower projects.
"We work with unions all over the U.S., and this was a collective effort by all parties: the owner, ICT, the union workforce and ICT subcontractors," MacKeigan said. "We staffed this project with experienced supervision, a full-time project manager and a full-time safety adviser. This seasoned project team promoted and implemented ICT's safe work procedures. Everyone welcomed ICT's safety values and conducted the scope accordingly."
"Working in this kind of facility comes with inherent challenges, due to stringent regulations, processes and procedures, but everyone helped ensure a safe, quality project that was delivered on time," said Ali Moradi, project engineer for ICT. "One aspect of this project that worked in our favor was that the area experienced a mild winter with less-than-average snowfall. However, ICT is very familiar with working in northern climates, conducting a significant amount of business in the northern U.S. and Canada."
ICT received positive feedback from the customer about its work, and the project manager at the power plant complimented ICT on its cooling tower know-how.
"When it comes to cooling towers, ICT's expertise is very valuable," said the project manager. "We have many engineers on-site, but we don't have any who specialize in cooling towers. ICT's expertise of how the cooling tower functions, how the different components mesh together and how that all relates to the cooling process was very helpful for us."
According to MacKeigan, the extra cooling capacity provided by the new cooling tower - compared to the old one - has allowed the plant to run at full capacity without any de-rates.
"The plant didn't have to de-rate this summer, which was a win," MacKeigan said.
"We've had nothing but positive reviews about the tower so far," the project manager stated. "The tower has worked perfectly since ICT completed it."
"This was a turnkey project," Moradi explained. "We had an extensive scope that went beyond just building the cooling tower structure. We had a scope that included anything and everything. We are very proud of this project. Completely rebuilding two nine-cell crossflow towers over two years is no small job, but we're certainly up to the task."
The project manager had more praise for ICT, commenting further on the company's adaptability and emphasis on safety.
"ICT was very adaptable and 'quick off the hip' to make any adjustments that were needed," he said. "As the project went on, their workers became in tune to our intricacies. ICT's adaptability and ability to integrate its services into our plant's requirements allowed the project to go very smoothly.
"In regard to safety, we worked 30,000- plus man-hours on this project. We had two first-aids. But when I say, 'first-aids,' I mean a guy bumped his knee and another one slipped on ice. Both were able to return to work immediately with no injuries. Being the site we are, we want a low threshold for reporting any incidents. ICT's ability to report incidents this minor showed that they take safety very seriously. ICT was on top of the site to keep it safe, and the company did an exemplary job when it came to safety."
"Safety is the first item in everyone's minds when we start a job," Vickers said. "Safety excellence begins with the planning and follows through to the execution. We have phenomenal, safety-conscious on-site leadership. It allows us to achieve excellent safety results on our projects."
ICT has no problem meeting strict deadlines where a limited amount of time is required to demolish and build a new cooling tower.
The project manager at the plant also emphasized that ICT was a "pleasure to work with" and "very professional."
"I would recommend ICT to other companies because they built a great cooling tower," the project manager lauded. "I'm very happy with it, and I know our operations staff is happy with it as well."
As many as 40 ICT employees worked on-site during phase one, including subcontractors. Regarding phase two, ICT has started work on the second tower and is expected to complete construction in 2022.
"We are moving right along with this next phase," MacKeigan said.
ICT makes every effort to be the best at what it does and will continue on that path moving forward.
"What sets us apart is our construction- driven engineering practices, which have made us the industry leader for providing custom cooling solutions for customers," MacKeigan said. "With 60-plus years of engineering and operational knowledge, we understand how to adapt to our customers' specific needs and contractual requirements. Furthermore, our people value integrity, equality and respect. Our commitment to these values has helped to make us a leader in the industries we serve."
"Part of what sets ICT apart from others in our industry is our focus on providing innovative, engineered solutions," said Mark Erdmann, director of sales for ICT. "These are developed by listening to our clients' needs for non-typical cooling tower construction practices and project-specific solutions. We utilize our 60-plus years of experience in the North American cooling tower industry toward developing new innovative construction practices built on a foundation of successful projects. We have the best talent in our industry, which enables us to 'dream big' and 'execute with confidence.'"
Due to COVID-19, 2021 has been a challenging year for everyone in industry. ICT has implemented its own COVID-19 safety measures at its sites and offices. Despite these challenges, ICT increased its client base, fabrication capacity and has ample material inventory to support its ongoing growth. The company will not stop building on its momentum of success, continuing to provide expert cooling tower solutions for all types of facilities.
For more information, visit www.ictower.com or call (832) 780-6900.
