BRACE Industrial Group is a leading provider of industrial services that help customers across the U.S. build, operate and extend the life of their facilities and equipment. Using the latest available technology and decades of experience, BRACE develops and delivers efficient and cost-effective solutions for a variety of projects, including new construction, maintenance and scheduled and unplanned turnarounds/outages. BRACE’s services include scaffolding, insulation, fireproofing, turnkey heat tracing design and installation, shop and field painting and specialty coatings, industrial siding and decking, abatement and refractory.
BRACE was recently called on by one of the world’s top producers of ethylene and polyethylene. The facility in Baytown, Texas, used PLATINUM, a BRACE Industrial Group company, to implement 3-D scaffold design work and management services.
The challenge
One of the greatest challenges within a construction project is finding a trusted partner. Balancing the elements of a complex project — people, schedule and scope — is essential to keeping costs within budget.
Engineering, procurement, construction and owner companies often identify scaffolding as one of the most inefficient crafts and difficult costs to manage. All trades require access to various parts of the work at different times throughout a project schedule, so it can be difficult to provide material and labor in the most efficient and cost-effective manner. Cost overruns historically have been documented to show a 25-percent to 100-percent increase over the original budget. Manpower estimates for total scaffolding requirements are generally based on a percentage of direct field labor hours for all crafts, averaging between 18 percent and 30 percent.
The project at the Baytown facility called for 3-D scaffold design work and management services. These services included training on the erection and dismantling of PERI scaffolding, managing scaffold crews and scaffold assets for the erection, assembling on an ethane cracker, and the installation of numerous controls and feed lines.
The solutions
Fluor Corp. was chosen as the EPC contractor for the project along with a rental company for scaffolding equipment. BRACE was selected as the scaffolding management partner to oversee design and installation of PERI, the most advanced scaffolding system on the market today. PERI’s Integrated Scaffold Program (ISP), a holistic approach to scaffolding design, materials management, construction packages and scheduling, was a key factor in selecting BRACE/PERI for this $5 billion megaproject. The strategic alliance between BRACE and PERI is the first of its kind in the U.S.
BRACE and PLATINUM have a depth of knowledge and expertise in using PERI scaffold in the U.S., the key factor to their selection as the scaffolding program managers. PLATINUM offers a unique and efficient approach to meeting its clients’ needs when it comes to scaffold installation and removal. Backed by a team of experts, PLATINUM and BRACE provide optimized solutions through a consultative approach in order to analyze the scaffold needs and design individual solutions based on the project.
The PLATINUM team on-site consisted of experts in the fields of scaffolding management and design. On a weekly basis the team created the plan to have scaffolding ready for the main disciplines to execute their work. Every day the crews knew exactly where and when they were building scaffolds, and each project location was fully equipped based on the predetermined material list. Through the detailed work plan and completed work packages, the PLATINUM team knew when the scaffold was ready to be dismantled, and this was incorporated into the schedule for safe and timely removal.
Schedule changes and new requests are constants on a project of this magnitude. True computer-aided scaffold design enabled PLATINUM to effectively manage change, allowing the PLATINUM 3-D designers to work in both computer-aided design (CAD) software and Navisworks at the same time, creating true-to-life designs on the fly. Scaffolds were designed and immediately reviewed by the construction team on-site. As the designs were approved, the exact scaffold material list and manpower estimates were created, delivered to the team leads and scheduled into the project appropriately.
The result
PLATINUM’s utilization of the ISP has resulted in a 35-percent reduction in direct field labor to date. PLATINUM’s management services team and 3-D scaffold CAD designers have ensured the scaffold system’s full benefits are being realized on a daily basis, resulting in increased predictability, the reduction of costs, efficiently managed scaffolding, the highest safety standards and — most of all — daily labor savings.
For more information, visit www.brace.com or call (281) 749-1020.
