JV Driver currently is applying advanced work packaging on the $1.4-billion JACOS Hangingstone Expansion 1 project in Alberta. Working with owner JACOS, a subsidiary of Japex, and Toyo Engineering, the team aims to triple oil-sand extraction capabilities at the JACOS site by 2016. JV Driver has been working on the project since 2011, and major construction is now about to begin on-site.
The process began by deciding how to integrate the team. The firms created a construction execution document that, "at its core, speaks to advanced work packaging," Wilson says. It established that the integrated Toyo and JV Driver team would develop together the engineering and construction work-package sequencing. "Construction provides the sequencing, and engineering will deliver per that sequence," he adds.
Wilson arrived on-site in 2012 to work on constructability. With large piping modules a key component of the project, the team wanted to optimize the design to enable crews to work on modules in controlled environments. "The general thinking is, if it costs $1 in the fabrication facility, it costs $10 in the [module] yard and $100 in the field," he says. Thus, they design so that as much as possible can be done in the steel and pipe shops.
Site coordination is a critical component, too. On tight industrial sites, the team has to be extremely disciplined in coordinating scaffolding erection, crane movement and other equipment needs. "We have a 500-ton crane on this job," Wilson says. "We need the movement of that crane to be as sequential as possible."
A shared 3D software platform with 4D and 5D capabilities helps the JACOS team work collaboratively and track progress on individual aspects of a design. Because the design model is highly detailed through early collaboration, it has become the main tool for the construction team's planning. Wilson says the team can go into the model and isolate a specific area, such as a stair tower, and create an installation work package from that portion of the model.
As the project progresses, Wilson plans to use Radio Frequency ID (RFID) tags and global positioning systems to leverage tracking data. JV Driver has used that technology on previous projects to monitor materials all over the world. "We will send GPS tags to manufacturers so that we know where that piece of equipment is at all times," he says. "We can see if it's on a boat, on a train or on the way to the yard. We can look weeks out at where that piece is and decide if we should mobilize crews or not."
Based on performance from previous projects, JV Driver believes its combination of AWP practices and tools has improved field productivity by between 10% and 15%, increased tool time by 50%, reduced turnover time by 50% and reduced time to locate materials by a factor of 10:1.
Improving Safety
