Abengoa Bioenergy Madison, Illinois, United States
Using innovation and creativity to deliver a state-of-the-art renewable fuel production plant
Helping develop renewable fuel sources
Abengoa Bioenergy called on Alberici to construct their greenfield ethanol plant in Madison, Illinois. The facility implemented Vogelbusch technology to produce 88 million gallons per year of ethanol and 230,000 tons of distillers’ grain solubles (DGS) per year. It consumes 825,000 tons of cereal grain as raw material annually.
Wearing multiple (hard) hats
Serving as construction manager under CM/GC delivery, Alberici worked closely with Abengoa and the design team to provide an array of preconstruction services, including value engineering, early work package development, and coordination of key process and grain handling equipment vendors. To more effectively control cost and schedule during construction, Alberici self-performed more than 700,000 craft hours, including concrete placement, structural steel erection, pre-engineered building erection, and process equipment installation.
Reducing costs through innovation
As a leader in construction innovation and green construction, Alberici applied new technologies to provide additional value. The Abengoa project was among the first to use a radial concrete forming system (Patent Logik360), which sharply reduced waste through the application of reusable formwork. Alberici also decreased labor costs and improved quality by using UltraCURE during concrete placement instead of the traditional wetted burlap method. The net effect of these and other similar Alberici-led initiatives was a project delivered in a more environmentally-responsible manner while significantly reducing project costs.
Coordinating labor to control schedule
One of Alberici’s greatest project accomplishments was our ability to implement an effective schedule recovery effort. To overcome engineering delays and late equipment deliveries, Alberici implemented a schedule of six-day weeks, with all crafts working 10 hours per day. Labor levels peaked at nearly 650 during the day and another 150 during the night shift. All of these efforts drove the project to an on-time completion.