Project Scope

Graycor Industrial Constructors Inc.—serving as general contractor on a joint venture partnership between Graycor and Sargent and Lundy—provided self-perform construction services to install Coal Combustion Residuals (CCR) systems at Northern Indiana Public Service Company’s generating stations in Michigan City and Wheatfield, Indiana. The CCR Project was performed on Unit 12 at NIPSCO’s Michigan City Generating Station, and on Units 14 and 15 at its R.M. Schahfer Station.

Construction of the project began in May 2017, with Unit 12 being completed and in operation by December 2018; Unit 14 by December 2018; and Unit 15 by March 2019. NIPSCO invested more than $100 million in this upgrade and provided up to 200 craft jobs at one time.

Graycor utilized more than 200 craftsmen including boilermakers, pipefitters, millwrights, ironworkers and support craft. Through February 2019, Graycor self-performed more than 340,000 direct man-hours. The project had three major outage tie-ins and retrofits into the existing systems. Over the entire project’s duration, more than 495,000 manhours were worked-including Graycor and subcontracted man-hours-without a recordable or lost time incident.

Construction began with the installation of 353 auger cast piles between both project sites, with Graycor self-performing all civil/sitework including 8,385 cubic yards of concrete. Piping totaling over 36,000 lineal feet included: schedule 80 carbon steel, stainless steel and copper, out of which more than 8,000 linear feet was small bore and more than 28,000 linear feet was large bore. In addition, Graycor installed three submerged flight conveyors and three surge tanks totaling 350 tons. Ironworkers erected an additional 200 tons of structural steel.