THE CHALLENGE

Erect a 723-ton FCCU regenerator, a 523-ton FCCU reactor, a 420-ton fractionator, and numerous other related structures as part of the $5.18 billion expansion and upgrade to Reficar, Ecopetrol's refinery in Cartagena, Colombia.

The catch: Position the crane in the operating unit with minimal site sterilization while maintaining ample capacity at the long-lift radii.

THE DETAILS

Tasked with overseeing the upgrade and expansion of Ecopetrol's Reficar refinery in Cartagena, one of the largest industrial projects ever undertaken in Colombia, the contractor consulted a variety of options to install a new fluid catalytic cracking unit.

But only one firm was able to meet its rigorous demands: Deep South Crane & Rigging.

The contractor needed three major lifts and roughly 20 related lifts in the existing operating unit of the aging South American refinery. But the contractor wanted it accomplished with a minimum amount of equipment and minimal sterilization of the site.

Deep South invested 18 months of research, planning, and engineering on the project and presented the viable solution the contractor was seeking. The work itself was completed in five months.

The team was able to position the VersaCrane™ TC-36000 lift crane and VersaCrane™ CC-9600 tail crane in such a way that very little demolition of the process unit was necessary to complete the lifts safely and on schedule. The boom straddled a control room, and outriggers were strategically positioned so as to avoid underground process piping and utilities.

"The contractor had consulted other options, but those would have required removing a lot of the process unit out to fit some of the alternative cranes in there, says Craig Stanford of Deep South's Houston office. "We were contacted to see if we had the ability to put our TC-36000 in an area that was very congested and would require minimal sterilization. That was a key area the contractor was focused on - they did not want to have to sterilize any more than was absolutely necessary. Our equipment allowed us to sit outside the unit, which required very little demolition. It was one of the big advantages we provided to the project."

The Deep South team also minimized disruption to construction in the greenfield area of the site by delaying as long as possible the closure of the heavy haul road adjacent to the brownfield area in which the crane was assembled.

Deep South established a wholly owned subsidiary, DS Americas, based in Bogota, Colombia, to meet a growing demand for the company's expertise in Latin America and South America.