Cianbro’s Eastern Manufacturing celebrates grand opening
Revitalizing a former paper mill site, Eastern Manufacturing is a state-of-the-art facility to fabricate and assemble modular industrial structures. This modular facility is the vision of Cianbro Chairman and CEO Peter Vigue, and enables industrial companies around the world to employ Maine’s skilled workforce in the construction of new industrial plants. It also allows Maine workers to live at home while exporting their knowledge and skill.
South Brewer Redevelopment LLC prepared the way for work to begin on site in early 2007. The planners worked with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Brownfields program on environmental assessments. A collaborative effort of historic proportions followed, involving several state and local agencies, and dozens of stakeholders, who assisted Cianbro in making its concept for the site a reality in record time.
The redevelopment included demolition, site cleanup and rehabilitation, as well as the construction of new facilities. The efforts have also resulted in the development of a bulkhead on the Penobscot River. This working river will once again spur the local economy by accommodating huge barges that will transport Eastern Manufacturing’s giant modules.
In October 2007, Cianbro was awarded a module assembly contract for the Motiva Enterprises LLC refinery expansion project in Port Arthur, Texas. Motiva is a joint venture owned by affiliates of Shell and Saudi Aramco. This contract is Cianbro’s first major job at its new Eastern Manufacturing facility. The task creates approximately 500 local, quality jobs and contributes significantly to Maine’s economy. It calls for the construction of over 50 large modules, each weighing in excess of 650 tons.
Motiva’s entire project will create a 325,000 barrel-per-day (b/d) capacity expansion at its Port Arthur refinery, increasing its crude oil throughput capacity to 600,000 b/d. The expansion will make the refinery the largest in the U.S., and among the top 10 in the world. The project is equivalent to building a major new refinery. The last new refinery in the U.S. was built more than 30 years ago.
Motiva has contracted with a joint venture of Bechtel Corporation and Jacobs Engineering Group to manage engineering, procurement and construction for the entire Port Arthur refinery expansion project.
Today’s grand opening celebration marks the completion of Cianbro’s facility, which began assembling modules in March 2008, even as site redevelopment continued. On hand for the ceremony are Cianbro’s Peter Vigue, Maine Governor John Baldacci, U.S. Senator Susan Collins, U.S. Congressman Michael Michaud, Gail Kelly, state director for U.S. Senator Olympia Snowe, Brewer Mayor Manley DeBeck, David Lloyd, U.S. EPA, brownfields programs manager, and Motiva President and CEO William B. Welte.
“This is a great moment, not just for Cianbro, but for this city, the region, and our state,” said Vigue, a firm believer in collaboration. “It’s all about people. By working together, believing in ourselves, and taking responsibility for our own success, the people of this region can achieve great things.”
Welte added, “The work being done for Motiva at Cianbro, and the craftsmanship being applied, is vital to our project. It is vital to getting additional transportation fuels to the American consumer.”
The first completed modules are schedule to leave for Texas in November 2008.
About Cianbro Cianbro is an employee-owned company and a leading health and safety innovator providing construction and service solutions to clients throughout North America. With the ability to self-perform all aspects of heavy industrial and civil construction projects, Cianbro also provides steel fabrication, modularized construction, and construction management services. Headquartered in Pittsfield, Maine, Cianbro’s 2,500 team members operate from regional offices in Pittsfield and Portland, Maine, Bloomfield, Connecticut, and Baltimore, Maryland. Cianbro’s gross annual sales exceed $450 million.
A copyright story from the MaineBusiness.com August 15, 2008