Project: Grassroots Olefins Complex
Contract: ABB Lummus Global
Client: BASF/ FINA Petrochemical Ltd.
Location: Port Arthur, TX
Construction Period: 1998–2001

Zachry completed work on the world’s largest single-train steam cracker in 2001. The cracker, which is part of the NAFTA Region Olefins Complex in Port Arthur, Texas, turns naphtha and light hydrocarbons into chemical raw materials. These materials are transported through pipelines and by other methods to chemical and polymer facilities and converted into olefin-based products.

Using a special technology for enhanced propylene production, the massive petrochemical plant has the capacity to produce 1.9 billion pounds each of polymer-grade ethylene and polymer-grade propylene, annually. Both are used in the production of plastics, fibers, solvents, paints and surfactants.

ABB Lummus Global provided engineering, design and overall construction management services. ABB contracted the major scope of construction for the grassroots project with Zachry. The job involved every construction discipline and 4.5 million total direct work hours, with a peak workforce of more than 2,000 employees. Zachry installed more than 30,000 pipe spools, with piping reaching 650,000 linear feet, the equivalent of 123 miles.

Zachry used innovative recruitment and work environment incentives, including a job training partnership with ABB Lummus and BASF/ FINA, to enhance our hiring and retention processes. These incentives helped local residents acquire critical skills for the construction industry. Up to 75 percent of the project’s total workforce came from the surrounding eight-county area, including 25 percent from Port Arthur, Texas.