SCRUBBERS KICK OFF – BRIGHT FUTURE
BY: MIKE SEPESY

Eight or nine months ago I wrote about the projected five to six billion dollars worth of work we were waiting to start. I am now pleased to report that some of this work has started.

First, the scrubbers being installed at the Hatfield Ferry Plant in Greene County. This 650 to 750 million dollar project for Allegheny Energy is being run by The Washington Group International, acting as the general contractor. Currently we have about sixty carpenters working at this site for seven different contractors. We have both men and women carpenters working with WGI, Pullman, Patent Scaffolding, McKinney Drilling, Babcock & Wilcox and Minnotte.

The first phase of this job was very carpenter intense, building numerous structures to house a carpenter shop, tool shed, decks, ice storage house, ramps and stairways The next phase was concrete formwork which will be in progress for the next eight to ten months. This thirty plus month project is about 1/3 complete. Some of the carpenter locals involved are: 84, 462, 333, 142, 2274, 1419, 165, 230 and 2235.

The three absorber towers being erected are 58’ in diameter and 158’ tall. They are the primary treatment vessels for the power plants flue gas before it enters the stack which is the next picture.The stack which is 542’ tall will have three 28’ FRP liners installed. Pullman Power was the stack and chimney sub. The stack took about ten to twelve weeks to complete the concrete work – working three shifts.
Picture 22 is the RPGD building (Reagent Preparation and Dewatering building). This structure will house the ball mills that will crush and grind the limestone into powder, and mixed with water to create a slurry that is then transferred to the three absorbers to be injected into the flue gas stream. This building will also house dewatering equipment, includeing filter presses that separate the by-product of the absorber process into liquid and solids. The liquids are treated and returned to the slurry process while the solids are stored or transferred for possible use in the wallboard manufacturing process. Much work has been done on this project with much more to come, equating to many more man hours. This is just one of many scrubbers being installed in our area power plants.

WASHINGTON COUNTY MEADOWS "TEMPORARY" CASINO

Another one of our recently completed projects was the new temporary casino at the Meadows in Washington County. This 72 million dollar “temporary” facility kicked off ground breaking in November of 2006 – seven months later they held an open house for the Washington County food bank as their inaugural opening. Cimminelli acted as the construction managers with six to seven of our contractors completing the project. We had approximately eighty carpenters on this project, some working two shifts. When our carpenters are sent to a job we tell them not to see how long they can be on that particular job but how quickly, on time and on budget they can get the job done to move onto to the next project. Well men I must say – JOB WELL DONE ! This job exceeded the expectations of the owners. This was only a “temporary facility”, at the completion of the August Adios, demolition of the grandstand will begin for the new 187 million dollar permanent casino.

VICTORY CENTER PROJECT

The photos below show dirt being moved for part of the overall 300 million dollar Victory Center project. This first phase is for the Tanger Outlet Mall which calls for 420,000 square feet of stores on 122 acres across from the Meadows on Racetrack Road in Washington County. Once the mall is well underway, Bass Pro Shops hopes to build a 225,000 square foot center on the remaining acreage.
Some other projects which have started in the southern counties are: The 60 million dollar Allegheny Ludlum, Jessop Plant, Titanium Furnace. SPC is the contractor doing the concrete foundation work. Also underway is a 400,000 sq. ft Consol Energy building being built in Southpointe, Washington County. This 63 million dollar project is being handled by Continental with Harry Grafton doing the interiors. Washington Hospital has begun Phase 1 of their 54 million dollar building out with the start of a parking garage Burchik is the contractor at the garage along with doing the National Cemetery along Route 79 Washington County. Phase 1 of the 100 million dollar Foundry Mall on Route 19 in Washington has recently been completed. Phase 2 is still being negotiated. Projects waiting to start in the months to come : Bentworth School – 17 million dollars, Chartiers-Houston School – 7 million dollars, seven story Waynesburg College Dormitory, Wellness Center at Waynesburg College, $ 1.3 billion dollar Nemacolin Power Plant and the $ 600 million dollar Beech Hollow Power Plant.
Work is also moving in the downtown Pittsburgh area with more to come. Brothers and sisters, we finally can see the sun coming up on the Horizon. Our time has come to reap the harvest. Our time is here for growth, unity and solidarity. This may be the biggest construction boom that many of us will ever be a part of in our lifetime. Let’s make the best of it, keep our doors open, gain more market share, increase our contractor base and pass on the union word “Organize”.