New Bayport Terminal Complex Wharf Planned at Port of Houston

Texas’ Gulf Coast is poised to see a lot of growth, from a $100-million wharf project to a new offshore crude oil port and pipeline system.

Shipping Service Established From Port of Corpus Christi to Venezuela

A dedicated monthly shipping service between the Port of Corpus Christi and Venezuela has opened a two-way trade route that hadn’t previously existed at the port. The new service comes on the heels of the selection of Washington, D.C.-based Federal Development as the master developer of a $400 million project, which includes the development of La Quinta Trade Gateway.

Federal Development will be the master developer of 1,009 acres in Ingleside, including 576 acres at Naval Station Ingleside, which will revert to the port in fall 2010. The remaining 433 acres is port-owned property adjacent to Naval Station Ingleside. Federal will create a mixed-use site with potential uses including maritime operations, tourism, biotechnology, green technology, higher education, commercial, residential and light industrial.

The Venezuelan trade route opened when the Port of Corpus Christi commission approved entering into a "memorandum of understanding" with Paris-based Saint-Gobain Norpro to establish a dedicated monthly shipping service between the Port of Corpus Christi and Venezuela.

The three-phase Ingleside project is still in the planning stages, but should be open by late 2010 or early 2011. Federal will begin market studies to submit a plan to the Port Commission later this year.

Fluor Awarded Refinery Modernization Project

Irving-based Fluor Corp. was awarded multiple contracts by BP America for its Whiting Refinery modernization project. Fluor has responsibility for overall program and construction management, engineering, procurement, fabrication and construction. Fluor will book $3.8 billion into backlog in the third quarter for the phase of the modernization project.

Fluor recently completed front-end engineering and design and began detailed engineering and construction in July with a projected completion date of fourth quarter of 2011. Fluor’s engineering, procurement and fabrication scope will include a new gas oil hydrotreater, significant upgrades to a crude/vacuum unit, and the upgrade and modernization for the utilities and offsites.

When complete, the modernization project will increase the Whiting facility’s gasoline production by 1.7 million gallons per day and will equip the refinery to process increased amounts of secure Canadian crude oil. Fluor’s engineering and construction professionals in Whiting, Ind., Houston and Manila, the Philippines, will have primary project responsibilities.

Texas Water Development Board Awards $3.4 Million for Projects

The Texas Water Development Board awarded more than $3.4 million in funding including $2.15 million from the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund - Disadvantaged Communities Program to finance water system improvements for the City of Groesbeck.

An award of $200,055 from the Colonia Self Help Program to finance water and wastewater system improvements was presented to Rensselaerville Institute for the Unidos en Hargill project. Another $433,000 from the Economically Distressed Areas Program to finance water system improvements was presented to La Joya Water Supply Corp.

The Groundwater District Loan Assistance Fund awarded $30,000 to finance start-up and initial operating costs for Northern Trinity Groundwater Conservation District; and $640,000 from the Texas Water Development Fund was awarded to finance water and wastewater system improvements for the Fort Bend County Municipal Utility District No. 49.

Fluor Awarded Two Valero Hydrocracker Projects For $1.2 Billion

Irving-based Fluor Corp. signed contracts with Valero Energy Corp. to provide engineering, procurement, construction and construction management services for its Unified Hydrocracker Program projects at its St. Charles, La., and Port Arthur refineries. The contracts for the HCU Program expansion projects totaling $1.2 billion were booked in the second quarter.

The two projects are part of a major growth program for Valero at their St. Charles and Port Arthur refineries. They have been designed to capitalize on the production of ultra-low sulfur diesel transportation fuels through the addition of two hydrocrackers. Fluor’s Calgary, Houston and New Delhi global execution centers will perform the work for the new expansions. Fluor is currently executing the engineering, procurement, and construction work for three other hydrocracker projects in the United States.

Texas State University Adds Concrete Industry Management Degree

Texas State University in San Marcos added The Concrete Industry Management program curriculum – a business intensive program that awards students with a four-year Bachelor of Science degree in Concrete Industry Management – beginning in spring 2009.

Developed in 1996, the program was designed to help meet the growing needs of the concrete industry around the country with programs in-place at four other universities. Executives from Texas companies have pledged more than $750,000 to the Texas State University program.

The goal of the program is to produce graduates grounded in basic business management, who are knowledgeable of concrete technology and techniques and are able to manage people and systems as well as promote products or services related to the concrete industry.

Wind Energy Development Path Cleared in South Texas

A federal court in Texas dismissed a final lawsuit, clearing the path to bring wind energy to South Texas. Babcock & Brown’s wind farm on the Texas Gulf Coast, which may provide enough energy to power 80,000 Texas homes, will be completed and operational later this year. The wind farm is located on the property of the Kenedy Memorial Foundation, a non-profit organization that will utilize the royalties to support charitable purposes in South Texas.

The development of San Francisco-based Babcock & Brown’s Gulf Wind Farm has created approximately 300 construction jobs, in addition to approximately 20 ongoing permanent and maintenance positions. Once operational, the wind farm will consist of 118 wind energy turbines with a total output capacity of more than 283 MW.

Babcock & Brown currently operates more than 20 wind farms throughout the United States, including one of the largest wind farms in the country, in Sweetwater, Okla. In addition, Babcock & Brown has more than 25 wind energy projects across the country in various stages of development. In Texas, Babcock & Brown has offices in Houston, Austin and Dallas, where the company has a 24/7 wind-farm monitoring headquarters.

State Funds Bring Wind Tower Manufacturing Plant to San Angelo

The Texas Enterprise Fund awarded $945,000 to Portuguese owned Martifer Energy Systems LLC for locating a wind energy tower manufacturing plant in San Angelo. The project will bring 225 new jobs to the area and a projected $40 million in capital investment.

Martifer Group has approximately 120 companies in more than 15 countries divided into four business areas: metallic construction, energy systems, electricity generation, and agriculture and biofuels. In addition to the TEF award, the local incentives included city and county tax abatements, gifted land, site improvements and job-creation incentives.

Corps of Engineers Joins Partnership for Trinity River Project

The Fort Worth District of the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers signed a Project Partnership Agreement for the Modified Trinity River Central City project, which is a milestone legal agreement between the Corps of Engineers and the Tarrant Regional Water District, the non-federal sponsor, to proceed with construction activities.

The PPA specifies construction actions and overall project operation, maintenance, repair, replacement and rehabilitation. The PPA will address flood risk management and will lay the foundation for the remainder of the $576 million Trinity River Vision project, which also includes opportunities for ecosystem restoration, urban revitalization and recreation.

The Central City project, which is one component of the Trinity River Vision Master Plan, is a partnership of the Tarrant Regional Water District, the Trinity River Vision Authority, the City of Fort Worth, Tarrant County, Streams and Valleys Inc. and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Port of Houston Plans $100 Million in Construction Projects

The Port Commission of The Port of Houston Authority is planning more than $100 million in construction projects with a construction contract to Dallas-based McCarthy Building Cos. Inc. for Bayport Terminal Complex Phase One Wharf for $100.5 million. The Port Commission selected Houston-based Dannenbaum Engineering Corp. to design the project, which includes the construction of approximately 1,330 ft. of additional wharf to accommodate a growing market.

Commissioners also awarded a construction contract to Jerdon Enterprise LP of Stafford for Woodhouse Terminal Access Control, for $1.28 million. The Port Commission selected HPA Inc. of Irvine, Calif., to design the project, which includes the installation of access control card readers consistent with the existing PHA system, automated gate arms, guard houses, utilities, cameras and visitor badge system at the main entrance

Commissioners approved a $1.2 million contract to Jacobs Engineering Group  Inc. of Pasadena, Calif., for phase two of the Bayport program management.

Elaborate Offshore Crude Oil Port and Pipeline System Planned

Enterprise Products Partners LP and TEPPCO Partners LP - both of Houston- and German-based Oiltanking Holding Americas Inc. formed a joint venture to design, construct, own and operate a new Texas offshore crude oil port and pipeline system to facilitate delivery of waterborne crude oil to refining centers along the upper Texas Gulf Coast. The initiative is designed to offer an alternative to offshore lightering and inland dock operations.

The Texas Offshore Port System project, or TOPS, would include an offshore port, two onshore storage facilities with approximately 5.1 million barrels of total crude oil storage capacity, and an associated 160-mi pipeline system with the capacity to deliver up to 1.8 million barrels per day of crude oil. System capacity could be expanded with construction of additional offshore facilities. Development of the offshore port system and onshore infrastructure is supported by long-term contracts with Motiva Enterprises LLC and an affiliate of Exxon Mobil Corp., which together have committed a total volume of approximately 725,000 bpd.

Demand for TOPS is driven by planned and expected refinery expansions along the upper Texas Gulf Coast anticipated to add approximately 425,000 bpd of capacity beginning in 2010 and expected increases in general ship traffic at onshore ports. According to data from the Federal Energy Information Administration, the Texas Gulf Coast is home to refineries with aggregate crude oil capacity of 3.9 million bpd (including planned and announced expansions), 2.5 million of which are imported on vessels that require lightering services.

TOPS is designed to allow operations 24 hours per day without restrictions on movements and vessel size. TOPS would be able to accommodate the largest vessels that  can carry approximately 3 million barrels of crude oil. The location of TOPS is designed to avoid delays and risks related to fog, navigation hazards and channel closures on coastal waterways.

The TOPS project involves construction of a deepwater port located approximately 36 mi offshore from Freeport and an onshore distribution and storage system. As designed, the deepwater port will feature two single-point mooring buoys that will essentially serve as floating docks for the vessels. Located in about 115 ft of water, the buoys will be able to offload crude oil at rates up to 100,000 barrels per hour. A subsea pipeline will connect the buoys to the onshore distribution system near Freeport. Utilizing directional drilling techniques to minimize beach impact, the TOPS pipeline system would run from the offshore port shore crossing to Freeport and extend along the Texas Gulf Coast to Texas City connecting to a 3.9 million barrel crude oil storage facility. From there, the pipeline would connect to existing crude oil pipeline systems currently serving the Texas City and >> Houston Ship Channel refineries.

A separate but complementary component of TOPS would involve construction of a 75-mi pipeline extending from Texas City to its terminus at a planned storage facility with 1.2 million barrels of crude oil capacity near Port Arthur. The storage tanks are designed to connect to various refineries and other facilities via pipelines. This pipeline system would have the added capability of delivering waterborne and offshore crude oil from existing Texas City docks and storage facilities to all Port Arthur/Beaumont area refineries.

Affiliates of Enterprise, TEPPCO and Oiltanking each have a one-third ownership in the joint venture and expect to invest approximately $600 million each in the initiative, which, subject to obtaining regulatory approvals and permits, is scheduled to begin service in the fourth quarter of 2010.

Brasfield & Gorrie Acquires Project in San Antonio for CPS Energy

Brasfield & Gorrie will serve as the general contractor of a new power project that includes the addition of a new rotary plow and coal conveyor retail system and a new exit tunnel parallel to the rotary plow tunnel at San Antonio’s CPS Energy’s Calaveras Power Station. In addition, mechanical piping systems will be installed, including compressed air, service water and a drainage system. Modifications and upgrades will also be made to the current coal conveyor system.

The project is the first time Brasfield & Gorrie has worked with CPS Energy.

The power plant construction project is expected to be complete by December 2009.

CPS Energy is the nation’s largest municipally owned energy company providing both electric and natural gas service.  Acquired by the city of San Antonio in 1942, CPS Energy serves approximately 685,000 electric customers and almost 320,000 natural gas customers in and around the seventh-largest city in the U. S.

Brasfield & Gorrie serves the Southeast from offices in Birmingham, Atlanta, Jacksonville, Nashville, Orlando and Raleigh.