Some will remember the series 24: the impossible must be done by character Jack Bauer in 24 hours, while the stakes are incredibly high... Each episode starts and ends with a clock. But as minutes pass, more and more challenging complications emerge. The tension and adrenaline build up, with an addictive effect: “when is the next episode, how does it end?”
For certain jobs, our construction managers also wake up feeling like this! Quickly grabbing their laptop and phones: “What happened during the night shift, is everything still going according to plan?”. In our field, this certainly occurs for assignments that we also call a “red thread job”. Intures recently faced this type of project, only it took not 24 hours like in the series, but 94 hours…
Risk of ‘freezing’ blast furnace
In collaboration with TATA Steel and the contractors involved, Intures was responsible for the construction management for the replacement of the secondary extraction pipe of the converter in the oxygen steel plant. The blast furnaces are actually in continuous operation, there rarely is a shutdown for maintenance. For the first time in many years there was downtime schedule, with a total of 96 hours. It was scheduled for all kinds of maintenance jobs in and around the oxygen steel factory to be executed at the same time. The deadline is strict, because when the blast furnace would be shutdown for more than 96 hours it will ‘freeze’, as it is called. Which means that there will be complications when restarting the blast furnaces…
A hitch in the cable…!
Intures decided to participate in the job, which in its turn was estimated to require 94 hours of downtime. There was hardly any room for delay available for the job during the entire standstill of the blast furnace! But as time passes, more and more challenging complications arise… for example, a pipe turned out to be double-walled. This was not known from the old documentation, so it was only discovered after it was welded open: unexpectedly the pipe did not come loose! An investigation was necessary to determine exactly what was going on. Tick Tock…
Maneuvering under magnifying glasses
Fortunately both the contractor and Intures had done all the preparatory work possible. The job was challenging because a section of the pipe needed to be replaced both inside and outside the factory, with an intermediate S-piece has well. Outside, the challenge was in ‘existing barriers’: a steam pipe and old crane track that got in the way. Good luck maneuvering the old pipe out of there safely and precisely… and put the new one in place! Inside, the challenge was in the fact that the crane tracks were not allowed to be used and the wind braces had to be removed. Due to the effect on the construction of the building, technical experts from TATA then closely monitored the project during the preparatory phase.
Accuracy requires preparation
The Intures team was also carefully focused on the job, during all 94 hours: which meant working shifts. But the joint job preparation again proved to be a crucial factor in meeting the deadline. After the outdoor and indoor pipes were in place and the S-piece was positioned between them, a section of 3 to 4 centimeters inbetween them still had to be bridged. All pipe sections were flanged and were to be welded together using a welding belt. However, bridging a gapsize this big would simply take too long! It’s a good thing that a metal piece was prepared to be welded inbetween the S-piece and the inner pipe. Only work remaining was to tailor the piece to accurately fit the final dimensions.
Mission accomplished! Are you also looking for a ‘Jack Bauer’ for your maintenance job? Please contact us without obligation!
