UIC Case Study: Silicone Manufacturing Plant Dismantle and Relocation

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UIC was selected as the general contractor to dismantle a 200,000 square foot silicone manufacturing plant in California and relocate it to South Carolina. The project's scope included removing all equipment with its related piping and valves, load it onto specialized trailers, and ship across the country to the new location. The entire project had to be completed within 4 weeks from start to finish.

The owner was completing construction work on their new facility in South Carolina and they required their equipment to arrive within a certain amount of time for scheduled reinstallation and start up. One of the challenges was that the equipment removal was during California's rainy season and the owner did not allow for rain delays.

Further UIC identified equipment that would ship as a wide load and that specific equipment, if left in one piece, would require an engineered cradle (a steel welded supporting structure) to carry it safely, securely, and to prevent damage to this precision equipment while in transit. Designing this cradle, fabricating it, and installing it was not part of the original schedule, or contract, as the owner was initially going to allow UIC to remove this mixer in 3 pieces.

In the original contract, the owner had the contractor supply the trucking and they then decided when the project started that they would handle the trucking themselves. UIC provided guidance to the owner's rep in determining what type of trailers would be required and which loads would require special permitting to get to their final destination.

UIC adapted to the owners change in plans, adjusted the manpower needs to get exactly what the customer wanted and needed, and achieved their schedule.

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