Expansion of the Piedras Negras Brewery, Phase 2
Piedras Negras, Mexico
Award of Merit

Owner Constellation Brands
Lead Design Firm and Civil-Structural-MEP Engineer URS/AECOM
Contractor Gilbane Alberici Joint Venture
Packaging Design and Installation Design Group
Brew House and Tank Technology Ziemann Holvrieka Inc.

This $1-billion project, which more than doubled brewery capacity, faced cross-border challenges. The owner selected Gilbane Building Co. and joint-venture partner Alberici Constructors for both construction management and general contracting. It was Gilbane’s first project in Mexico. The team included 55 Mexican subcontractors, which each needed on-site supervisors who spoke English to ensure instructions flowed smoothly. “Worker turnover was a challenge, with a peak of 3,400 workers and 11,480 badged,” says the submitter. “A majority … were unfamiliar with safe work practices and advanced construction techniques. Workers initially believed they had to do whatever the supervisor told them, regardless of the safety factor. That had to change.” Workers received safety and task-specific

training to meet the JV’s standards. Various project components—such as the brewery and packaging buildings, warehouses, and water-wastewater and cogeneration plant expansions—were built simultaneously and integrated for process start-up. The team had to meet stringent equipment and materials import rules under a U.S. Customs and Border Protection program to improve the security of private companies’ supply chains.

Related Article: Global Best Projects Awards 2017