October 2007.pub - Sunland Construction Inc

THE TREE LINE
News for Sunland Construction & Affiliates
Sunland’s Marine Fleet Storms Cameron Parish
In the murky inland marshes of Southwest Louisiana, Sunland is undertaking a pipeline project bigger than any other in the company’s
history. It all started in January of 2007 when Sunland Construction
was awarded a contract for the installation of approximately 23.5
miles of a 42” LNG pipeline from Cameron to Carlyss, Louisiana
called Segment 2 of the Cheniere Creole Trail Pipeline. In March of
2007 Sunland was awarded an additional 18.4 miles of the 42” LNG
pipeline from Johnson Bayou to Cameron, Louisiana called Segment
1 of the Cheniere Creole Trail Pipeline. This massive project, when
completed, will carry natural gas from a liquefied natural gas terminal
and interconnect with other interstate and intrastate pipelines.
The majority of the pipeline consists of 42” x .600 wall pipe with 5.5
inches of concrete coating. Each 40 foot joint of pipe weighs approximately 53,000 pounds. Prior to construction, Sunland was required to build specialized equipment to handle the heavy weight of
42” concrete coated pipe and large machinery used in lifting and
welding the pipe. For this, Sunland contracted to build two heavy
weight low draft barges measuring 140’ x 40’ x 7’ to be included in
the lay barge spread. Once the final outfitting was complete, the two
barges were christened the Geraldine Marie and the Nicole Marie.
Lay Barge Spread at work in Calcasieu Lake
In addition to the new barges,
sixteen new lifting yokes were
also designed and fabricated for
Sunland’s specific needs. The
lifting yokes are 27’ high and are
designed to lift 50 tons each.
They are required when lifting
pipe sections for making tie-ins
Sixteen customized yokes Sunland uses to lift
the heavy pipe in order to make tie-ins.
Jan.—Dec. 2007
In the pipeline:
Safety Leadership
5
Letter from the President
6
Gotta Dig It
7
Pipeline People
10
Aerial view of Sunland’s Lay Barge Spread. Notice the 42” joints of concrete pipe being
loaded on the left and the finished pipeline laid into the water on the right .
Volume 8—Number 1
in lake and marsh environments. Also, eight fully enclosed air conditioned welding
stalls were fabricated to support
the welding phase of Sunland’s
automatic welding system.
with internal crawlers for NDE
inspection. A pipe end prep operation is performed to install a
compound bevel that reduces the
amount of weld metal required for
the automatic welding spread.
Segment 2 construction began
in May of 2007 and Segment 1
construction began in August
2007. Now in full swing, Superintendents Carl Ledet and Joe
Courville lead a team of approximately 250 construction
personnel currently working on
the project. Five and one-half
miles of Segment 2 and 18.4
miles of Segment 1 include
pipeline installation through areas in which the ditch has to be
dug and the pipe floated
through marshes and low land
areas. In order to accomplish
this tough marsh work, Sunland
utilizes excavators mounted on
Kori Amphibious Undercarriages to track through and excavate the boggy terrain.
To supply this massive project,
concrete coated pipe is loaded
onto 250’ x 54’ pipe transportation barges at the coating yard in
New Iberia, Louisiana and transported to the job site. After each
joint of pipe receives its end prep
operations, the pipe is transferred
to 140’ x 40’ barges and transported to the lay barge for lake
construction. For marsh construction, the pipe is transported
to a local dock and loaded onto
pipe trucks for hauling to the various push sites.
Caterpillar 330 excavators mounted on
top of Kori Amphibous Undercarriages.
The amphibious tracked excavators
played a vital role in constructing the
pipeline through the Cameron Parish
marsh.
Approximately 18 miles of Segment 2 includes pipeline installation across Calcasieu Lake.
Calcasieu Lake is a shallow water lake with water depths ranging from 5 to 9 feet. For this
unique inland water pipeline
construction, Sunland is utilizing
its custom built, low draft lay
barge equipment. This welding
spread utilizes Sunland’s automatic welding equipment and
ultrasonic testing for NDE inspection. The other welding
spread utilizes SMAW welding
Page 2
Sunland’s Directional Drilling Division is also playing an important role in the Creole Trail project. Segment 2 includes the installation of four 42” directional
drills ranging from 3,000 to 4,900
feet in length. The majority of the
drills are being conducted utilizing spud barges and marine
equipment. All of the holes are
being cut to 58” to accommodate
the 42” pipe. The longest drill
traverses both the Intracoastal
Waterway and the Calcasieu
Ship Channel. For this crossing,
the drilling rig requires transportation via barge to Choupique
Island where it is unloaded onto
board mats for drilling. In order
to maintain the schedule with the
pipe laying spread, Drilling Superintendent Jimmy Miller and
crew performed the ship channel
crossing. All other drills are being completed by two crews, Superintendent Jimmy Reynolds will
supervise the day crew and Superintendent Juan Perez will supervise the night crew. Currently,
the Drilling Division has completed all four drills on Segment 2
and will perform three more on
Segment 1.
The Tree Line
Aerial view of Directional Drilling site
Along with all of the complex issues of constructing a pipeline
through marsh and water,
Sunland is also responsible for
installing two mainline valves
and a launcher assembly in Segment 1 and one mainline valve in
Segment 2. The anticipated
completion date for Segment 2 is
January of 2008, with completion
for Segment 1 in April of 2008.
Due to the hard work and safety
practices of all the employees,
this project is progressing
smoothly. All of us at Sunland
are proud of the work that the
Gulf Coast Division is performing
and would like to congratulate
Project Manager Randy Maturin,
Superintendents Carl Ledet and
Joe Courville and their crews for
their professionalism and safe
work habits on Sunland’s largest
project.
North marsh push site and 5,200 feet of 42”
directional drill pipe string
Jan.—Dec. 2007
Station Division Builds Two Large Facilities in 2007
Sunland Construction’s Station Division has been very busy over 2007 constructing two large underground gas storage facilities in South Louisiana. Thanks to Station Construction Manager, Glenn Sebolt,
this busy division recently completed the installation of the Bobcat Gas Storage Leaching Facility near
Port Barre, LA and is in the last stages of completing the Pine Prairie Energy Center near Pine Prairie,
LA.
The Bobcat Gas Storage contract was awarded to Sunland Construction for the engineering, procurement and construction, with the client furnishing much of the larger cost engineered items. The project
consisted of providing the design, fabrication and installation for all foundations, piping and electrical
work associated with a 5,000 gpm leaching facility. The plant included fresh water wells (4 @ 150 hp),
three 5,000 bbl fresh water tanks, fresh water booster pumps (3 @ 75 hp), fresh water injection pumps (3
@ 3,000 hp), two cavern wells, three brine tanks, brine booster pumps (4 @ 60 hp), brine injection
pumps (4 @ 1,500 hp) and four brine water disposal sites. The entire facility was constructed on piles
and Waskey slabs to get above the flood plain.
The Sunland team working on the Bobcat Gas Storage project consisted of, Steve Isaac – Project Superintendent; Mike Oubre – Project Manager; Rocky Windham – BGI&E Superintendent; Gerald Buckmiller
– Field Office Manager; Bill Berg – W.S. Nelson Engineering Project Manager; Doug James – Civil Foreman; and George Best – Mechanical Foreman
The Bobcat project was a tremendous project for the Station Division to be associated with and extremely schedule driven. Due mainly to the “Can Do” attitude of the client, the Sunland Team and subcontractors, the project was completed in eight months. The entire team, including W.S. Nelson Engineering, Buffalo Gap I&E, Sunland field personnel and the Bobcat field staff, refused to let the schedule
slip. Along the way, a multitude of problems and obstacles were solved and overcome in order to complete the project in the required timetable.
Bobcat Storage facility—Shown above is a 100’ x 200’ pump and
piping platform. In foreground is the fresh water piping system and in
background is the brine water piping system.
Aerial view of the Bobcat Gas Storage Leaching Facility.
The other large project that the Station Division has been hard at work constructing is the Pine Prairie
Energy Center (PPEC). In February of 2007, PPEC contracted with Sunland Construction’s Station Division to construct the Gas Handling Facility near Pine Prairie, LA. Since that time, the project has been in
constant progression and is scheduled for an early 2008 completion.
Jan.—Dec. 2007
The Tree Line
Page 3
The project consist of installing all foundations, site work, piping and electrical work for the following: 4 CAT CM34C (8,000 HP) driven ariel reciprocating compressors and auxiliary equipment (8 gas coolers, 4 water coolers, 8 separators/scrubbers, auxiliary skids, and process liquids storage tanks); and 3 dehydration trains (3 contact towers, 5 separators, 3 glycol regeneration skids, 3 hydrate heater skids). Also installed was an exchange header capable of withdrawal or injection into 3 – 8MMCF underground salt dome storage caverns with capabilities of
delivery or receipt of customer gas via 2 bi-directional pipelines.
Key personnel involved with the Pine Prairie Energy Project include: Kevin Lemaire – Superintendent; Jamie Fruge – Project Manager; Joe Sotelo - Assistant Superintendent; Terry Lemaire
- Welder Foreman; Jorge Sotelo – Foreman; David Sotelo – Foreman; J.R. Velasquez – Foreman; Keith Navarre – Field Office Manager; Glenn Trahan - Construction Specialist; Henry
Garrett - Safety Coordinator; Kevin Bounds – BGI&E Superintendent; Jeff Finley – BGI&E Assistant Superintendent; Russell Fontenot – BGI&E Foreman; and Waylan Marcantel – BGI&E
Instrumentation Foreman
The Pine Prairie Energy Center is another massive project where Sunland, as well as Buffalo
Gap I&E, has enjoyed great success. At peak construction, Sunland employed 164 workers,
Buffalo Gap employed 62 workers, and as many as 20 subcontract employees. Just a few of
the astounding construction highlights include: over 7,000 cubic yards of concrete placed; over
250,000 weld inches; over 11.5 miles of pipe within a 6-acre site; over 300,000 linear feet of
cable; 15,000 sq ft compressor building; 5,000 sq ft utility building; and over 300,000 man
hours completed.
Pine Prairie—Three inline gas withdrawal heaters used to
assist in dehydrating gas coming from the underground caverns.
Aerial view of the Pine Prairie Energy Center
Great things can be said about Sunland’s Station Division. They have all worked extremely
hard this year and deserve to be recognized. However, all of the project managers, superintendents, and field employees would like to give a special thanks to the office staff for their exceptional job handling the paper work. Due to the increased work, large amounts of paper
work had to be processed for project records, change orders, daily time tickets, bi-weekly billing, projections, and employee records. Everyone involved adapted quickly to the added work
load and did a great job getting all this paper processed in a timely fashion.
Page 4
The Tree Line
Jan.—Dec. 2007
Safety Leadership –
How to Improve
Safety management traditionally means safety programs,
committees, rules, and inspections. To excel in safety we
must integrate safety into our
daily activities, with mutual participation by management and
workers, with both parties being
equally held accountable. A
good safety management system is aimed at motivating correct behaviors, not enforcing
stringent rules. Each employee
has a role and a voice in safety
and should be well aware that
safety is important to their immediate supervisor, fellow
workers, and especially themselves. That awareness comes
not only from slogans, signs, or
incentive programs, but from
supervisory involvement, frequent emphasis on safety, a
positive, coaching approach to
behavioral situations, and an
overall view of safety that includes both proactive and reactive measures, including directing everyone’s attention to
safety.
The effect of involving all levels
of management in a more visible safety process is to show
employees that safety matters,
and that they really matter to
the company. Numerous industrial psychology studies conducted decades ago showed
that an improved workplace climate substantially increased job
performance. Improving worker
morale will cut turnover rates,
improve productivity, and reduce incidents.
We all live and work in turbulent
times, with both internal and
external pressures and distractions. If we are focused on a
Jan.—Dec. 2007
higher level of safety and organizational performance, it is essential that we enhance our
own and others’ abilities of attention control.
The following is an excerpt from
an article by Robert Pater and
Ron Bowles “9 Keys for Directing Attention to Safety”.
Experience has shown that attention control can be markedly
improved if the right keys are
used. These keys include:
Help others see that directing
attention is critical for improved safety performance.
Recognize limitations of any
present approaches to directing attention.
Understand there are many
components to the process of direction attention.
Identifying attitudes about
attention control is critical.
See aging as a factor, not a
barrier, to improved attention control.
Assess different kinds of attention patterns.
Recognize that attention control has both individual
and organizational components.
Start with yourself.
Focus on learnable skills.
In directing our attentions and
making safety a routine responsibility for everyone, we can become an excellent safety performer. Day-to-day, hour-tohour attention and inclusion to
safety into everything that happens will bring the lowest possible incident rates and improve
other important parameters
such as workplace climate.
The Tree Line
A good leader understands
the values of money, prestige,
promotion and thereby assures the organization
achieves its proper end. A
great safety leader recognizes the fundamental values
of human life, ethics, and believes deeply in the worth of
the individual. Being an effective safety leader takes
something over and above
what it takes to be a good
leader generally, and this
awareness and emotional
commitment make the difference. It requires a significant
degree of empathy, compassion, and maturity. These
qualities are available to all
workers, but they must be cultivated and nurtured. A good
safety leader looks for opportunities to evoke them in others and takes care that the
day-to-day pressures and demands of organizational life
do not drown them out. One
of the most surprising facets
of safety leadership is its personal nature, it’s not just
about what you do, it’s very
much about who you are and
how you leverage your natural strengths and compensate
for your shortcomings.
The old saying “ignore it and
it will go away” is not what we
are about. If our managers,
superintendents, supervisors,
and foreman do not pay attention, other employees will
not pay attention either. Improve on your individual
safety leader skills. We can
all become great safety leaders.
Page 5
Message from the President
First, I would like to extend a thank you to every employee for your hard work this year. Most
have worked long hours with little time off in order to respond to the needs of our customers and
we recognize and appreciate your sacrifices.
Our revenues have increased 38% from 2006 and we have tripled our revenue since the very slow
year of 2005. We remain profitable and continue to reinvest our profits in our employees, our
equipment and various business opportunities. With over 2100 employees now working for
Sunland, Sunland-Kori, Foremost, Buffalo Gap I & E and MB Construction, we should complete the
year with over 5 million man-hours worked. As you see in this issue of the newsletter, we have
completed or are currently working on a number of high profile projects, as well as a multitude of
more traditional projects across the United States. Every affiliated company and division of
Sunland has exceeded financial expectations and the outlook remains strong.
Our Challenge
This across the board growth has presented a new set of challenges for us and the continued evolution of our safety culture is clearly the most important priority for us now and in the future. We
have implemented new tools and processes such as our new short service mentor program, JSA/
ATW program, last minute risk assessment, management audits, new glove policy and goal post
power line policy. We also continue to emphasize that every employee should be proactive in the
use of our observation card system and their own STOP work authority. These programs will not
work without each employee committing to address safety behaviors of other employees - both
good and poor. Every employee, on every crew, should take time to pat each other on the back for
performing work the right way. Likewise, step forward and intervene in a caring manner when you
see an employee in an unsafe situation or about to perform an unsafe act. Let’s work together to
really make a difference in the way we work - the status quo is simply not acceptable.
Outlook
We anticipate another record year in terms of workload with over 80% of our 2007 revenue under
contract for 2008. We even have projects under contract for 2009. This is unprecedented. Pipeline and storage infrastructure development will continue for several years to support the current
level of E & P activity, planned LNG facilities and overall increased demand.
With the increase in activity in our industry, additional opportunities will exist for many employees
or prospective employees. We have substantially increased pay across the board, increased our
training and development of employees and will be looking for ways to improve recruiting, retention
and further development of our workforce.
Let’s continue to foster teamwork and respect for all employees and work together to make sure
that the Sunland group of companies remains a great place to work and leaders in the industry.
Page 6
The Tree Line
Jan.—Dec. 2007
Your Hard Work in the Spotlight
Thanks to you and your hard work, there are a number of jobs underway.
Your professionalism and workmanship have kept jobs in the pipeline for
you. If you are between jobs and looking for a good opportunity, feel free to
contact a Division to find out what work is available.
Buffalo Gap I&E
Buffalo Gap, Texas
325/572-3389
Buffalo Gap I&E presently has 39
projects underway – 21 in the industrial division and 18 in the commercial division. They have 5 industrial projects and 2 commercial
projects awaiting start. Bid activity
remains high in both divisions as
well. Some of the larger industrial
projects presently underway or
awaiting start are the Pine Prairie
Underground Storage Facility in
Evangeline Parish, LA, Kinder
Morgan Station #901 in Meeker,
CO, Enstor Gramma Ridge Storage Facility Compression in Lea
County, NM, Kinder Morgan Station #905 in Carr, CO, TGT Station
#25 Compression Addition in
Cleveland, TX, Enbridge Tank
Terminal Facility Expansion in
Cushing, OK, Talon Industries
MTMI Fuel Terminal in Greene
County, AL, Cheniere Pipeline
Johnson Bayou Metering Facility
in Cameron Parish, LA, OXY
North Cowden Facility Expansion
in Goldsmith, TX, Conoco Phillips
Jefferson City Terminal Revamp in
Jefferson City, MO, High Plains
Biodiesel Facility in Guymon, OK
and the Tom Russell Hough Processing Plant in Borger, TX. Buffalo
Gap’s Tolar, TX area office activity
remains exceptionally strong servicing clients such as Quicksilver,
Enbridge, Chevron, ETC and Falcon Gas/Nortex.
Larger commercial projects presently underway or awaiting start
are the new high school in Bangs,
Jan.—Dec. 2007
TX, Dyess AFB Youth Center in
Abilene, TX, Lithia Toyota in
Abilene, TX, Hilton Garden Inn
in Abilene, TX, Jackson Elementary School Remodel in
Abilene, TX, Taylor County Jail
Expansion in Abilene, TX and
the Texas Veterans Cemetery
in Abilene, TX.
Eastern
Tuscaloosa, Alabama
205/750-2004
Eastern Division’s Butch Drane
and a crew of 85 employees
have begun construction on 4.5
miles of 36” (with one 4,200 ft
HDD) for Kinder Morgan. This
project is located in Cameron
Parish, LA and just under one
mile north of the Lacassine National Wildlife Refuge. This
project is scheduled to be completed before the Christmas
holidays.
Aerial view of Kinder Morgan ROW
El Paso / Southern Natural Gas
(Anomaly Investigations in MS,
The Tree Line
AL, and GA) David Schrimpshire
and crew of 9 employees began
performing anomaly investigations
on May 7th of this year and look to
be completed by the first week of
November. They have worked for
almost six months without a loss
time or recordable. Southern
Natural Gas is very pleased with
David’s crew and has expressed
interest in using David for their
work next year.
El Paso / Southern Natural Gas
(Assist with Anomaly Investigations and Running Smart Pigs)
Mario Jones and crew of four began assisting Southern Natural
Gas’s roving crew with anomaly
investigations on May 14th of this
year. By June 18th Mario added
two employees to his crew and
began assisting Southern Natural
with smart pig runs as well. They
worked almost five months without
a loss time or recordable. Although the job was completed on
September 28th, the results of the
smart pig runs added additional
work to David Schrimpshire’s
crew.
Pine Prairie (18” OD Station Piping) Bud Mount and crew of 25
have begun installing 18” station
piping in cooperation with Kevin
Lemaire and the Station Division.
This is Bud’s third project so far
working for Sunland and we are
very pleased with his work.
Enbridge Pipelines (2007 Hydrotesting Project) Charlie Tinin and
crew of 31 employees have begun
hydro-testing various sections of
3”, 4”, 6”, 10”, 12”, and 16” pipelines in North Alabama and Mississippi. The project should be finished before December. Charlie
and his crew have had an excellent safety record with no loss
times or recordables this year.
Brian Ward and crew, including full
time employees Billy Mulina, Victor Sevilla, and John Stringer are
Page 7
currently working on the Chalmette PIM Project for Chevron
in Belle Chasse, LA, which
consists of four sites of integrity work and replacing 2500’
of 30” concrete coated pipe.
Although this crew has worked
in difficult conditions and faced
difficult circumstances, they
have demonstrated their excellent commitment to safety and
worked without incident.
Kenneth White and his crew,
including full time employees
George Spratlin and J.C. May,
are currently working for
TEPPCO on the Tank Line Installation project in Port Arthur,
TX, installing approximately
8300’ of 42” and 5000’ of 36”.
This crew has been working
together since April, and in addition to the previously mentioned work, they have completed three projects for Tennessee Gas Pipeline, who is
very pleased with the crew.
Kenneth and crew have had a
great year as they have not
only completed all projects
ahead of schedule and under
budget, but demonstrated their
commitment to safety by working throughout the year without
a recordable or loss time incident.
Billy Mulina and crew completed the Gillis Discharge Project for Spectra Energy in
Kinder, LA. Due to the duration of the project, Billy and
crew faced difficulties with resources, including labor. However, Billy and crew were able
to finish the project on schedule, under budget, and with
zero safety incidents. Great
job guys.
Kurt Carlson has done an excellent job painting for Tennessee Gas Pipeline this year.
They are extremely pleased
with the quality of his work.
Page 8
Foremost
Gaston, South Carolina
803/939-4832
Foremost has experienced a
huge growth in the amount of
business that we are handling for
our major customer, SCANA Corporation. At this time last year,
we had 28 crews (electric and
gas) working under the blanket
contracts. Now we currently
have 44 crews working on these
blanket contracts.
Foremost Pipeline currently has
seventeen crews in their Electric
Division. There are fourteen
crews working in the Columbia/
Lexington area and three crews
working the Aiken area. There
has been a huge growth spurt in
Lexington, Richland, Aiken and
smaller surrounding counties with
new subdivisions and businesses
going up on every corner. These
crews not only handle the installation of new primary lines, they
also provide maintenance to existing lines as well as the installation of new services to residential
and commercial customers.
There are currently seven crews
working in the Columbia Gas Division. These crews are operating under the direction of Tillman
Kyzer. The number of residential
and commercial services has increased over the last year as well
as the installation of main lines to
service the new neighborhoods
that are appearing on every corner. The Lexington County area
has had a huge growth in the
commercial area as well as the
growth in the number of new residential customers. There have
been two new Wal-Mart shopping
centers that have sprung up and
we have run the gas main line
extensions to these projects as
well as handled the services to
the individual businesses going
The Tree Line
into the strip malls with the
parking lots. We also did the
main line extension and services to the new Target that
was built in Lexington, South
Carolina and installed all of the
business services there.
These crews are extremely
busy and we are getting new
service orders every day and
approximately one new mainproject per week. Five crews
are operating in the Aiken Gas
Division. This area has also
seen a huge amount of growth
both residential and commercial and these crews are kept
busy every day. Tim Haechten
has his finger on the pulse of
This operation along with all of
his other day-to-day tasks.
Steve Locklear currently has
eleven crews working in the
Florence Gas Division. Two of
these crews are being handled
under the watchful eye of Clint
Driggers in the Myrtle Beach,
South Carolina area. Myrtle
Beach has seen a huge growth
in both residential and commercial customers. The other
9 crews are kept busy in the
Florence, Darlington, and Dillon, Marion, Cheraw, Pageland
and other surrounding towns
installing new mains, main extensions and residential and
commercial services.
Foremost has two patching
crews working. We have
Manzy Eaddy operating in the
Florence District and Michael
Yon operating in the Columbia
area. Both of these crews are
kept busy repairing roadways,
restoring sidewalks, driveways,
etc. We also have two directional boring crews working the
Columbia and Aiken blankets.
We are also doing some mechanical repair work to aboveground facilities for Carolina
Gas
Transmission
Corp
(formerly South Carolina PipeJan.—Dec. 2007
line). Rodney Webb is handling
these and other projects.
Gulf Coast
Delcambre, Louisiana
337/685-2167
Marcus Van Allen and crew have
completed the Texas Gas Chacahoula project in Thibodeaux , La.
They installed 2,000’ of 20” concrete coated pipe and built a new
meter station and platform. All
work was performed in a cypress
swamp and was very difficult.
The finished product of Marcus Van
Allen and crew. Chacahoula, LA –
Texas Gas Meter Station
Sunland crews completed a
16”x30” tap in 9’ of water. This tap
area was surrounded by driven
sheet piling which had to keep the
water at bay to allow our crews to
complete the split tee installation
and ultimate tap and tie-in. The job
was completed in August. Afterwards they moved on to the Chevron Calcasieu River project in Lake
Charles, La. This is a pipeline integrity project involving hot taps
and stopples to isolate piping to
enable pigging of the pipelines.
Sheet piling is also involved with
this work. All work is being done
from barges and work should be
completed by early November.
Belvon Hebert and crew have completed projects in Toca, LA, and
also spent time working on the
Cheniere project. Belvon and crew
are currently working for a customer in Baton Rouge doing pipeline pigging and hydro-testing
work.
Jan.—Dec. 2007
Teddy Pinson and crew continue
working in Toca, LA for Southern
Natural Gas. He has been working there without a real break
since Hurricane Katrina. Teddy
and his crew have integrated with
the Toca personnel so much that
they are almost considered family
at the Toca station. It appears
they have more work in front of
them.
and El Paso Production. He has
also done work for L-Con Constructors and ETC/HPL.
Carl Ledet and Joe Courville
have been working on the 42”
Cheniere LNG Pipeline Segment
I and Segment II. Segment II
has been going well and should
be completed by the end of the
year. They have started to rotate
crews to Segment I and we
Doc Veillon and Jody LaHaye are should start laying the drill secboth working on the Enterprise
tion for the west end at Johnson
Products South Texas NGL Pipe- Bayou for Segment I.
line Phase II. They have a crew
of 225 employees and are apDHB Services has been working
proximately 60% complete. Doc for Exxon/Mobil, Genesis, Koch
has done well after assuming re- Pipeline and Coastal Corrosion.
sponsibility for this project.
The work has picked up for
David Clavier and his crew and it
Dennis Sisung’s crews have
looks as though DHB will be
been kept busy on work for Shell, busy for the next couple of
Chevron and Plains Marketing.
months.
They should have work through
the end of the year. Mike PelleRocky Mountain
grin has competed 10 miles of 10
Aztec, New Mexico
inch pipeline for Chevron Pipe505/334-4350
line and will be starting up on
anomaly repair work for Plains
Marketing. Joe Scott and Ronnie Enterprise Products – Jim HanScott have been kept busy work- cox, assisted by Butch Renfro, is
ing for Chevron Pipeline and
constructing 8.5 miles of 24”
Shell Pipeline.
pipeline and 1.5 miles of 30”
pipeline. The project is called
Sunland-Kori has been busy
the Piceance Pipeline. Job locamanufacturing amphibious under- tion is between Rifle and
carriages for Dean Equipment,
Meeker, Colorado. Project ManNestoil, Nationwide Equipment, ager for this job is John Kuhn.
Dofe, Santee Cooper and
Sunland Construction. Guy Rich- Williams (San Juan Basin) –
ard and his crew have been very Jerry Rohde, assisted by Buddy
busy and are to be commended Rohde, is building the Quintana
for completing approximately 24 Mesa Gathering system for Wilunits for the year.
liams. The project consists of
numerous miles of 6”, 8”, 10”
Tony Perez has completed all
and 16” and is located in Rio Arwork except the directional drill
riba County, New Mexico. Profor Enterprise West Texas 30”
ject Manager for this job is John
and is waiting on his driller to
W. Wilson.
complete it. He was delayed due
to permit problems on the drill.
Aspen Operating – Clif Morgan,
assisted by Toro Murillo, is buildRobert Hopkins has been busy
ing 9.3 miles of 8” steel pipeline
doing small work for TEPPCO
just south of Grand Junction,
The Tree Line
Page 9
Colorado in the community of
Whitewater, Colorado. John
Wilson is managing this project.
Chevron Pipeline – Paul Brown
and Larry Martinez are building
two 30” launchers / receivers
for Chevron. This project is located north of DeBeque, Colorado.
Plains Exploration & Production
(PXP) – Kevin Sategna, assisted by Rick Phillips and
Butch Henshaw, has commenced construction on 13.5
miles of 16” pipeline for PXP.
The project is called the Buzzard Creek to Hell’s Gulch
Pipeline and is located just east
of Grand Junction, Colorado in
the Collbran Valley. Project
Managers for the PXP job are
John Wilson and Sean Renfro.
Enterprise Products – Johnny
Donaldson and crew are nearing completion on the “Chevron
Metering Facilities” for Enterprise. This Project is also located north of DeBeque, Colorado. Project Manager over
this project is Paul Brown.
El Paso Western Pipelines –
Project Manager Matt Cook is
starting a creek crossing for
CIG just south of Denver, CO.
El Paso Western Pipeline
Group – Harry Nakai, assisted
by Merlin Boo and Fred Dinetclaw, are preparing to commence construction for El Paso
on the “Route 66 PIP Project.”
This project is located on historic U.S. Route 66 in Arizona.
The project is linked up to El
Paso’s EPNG system. Project
Manager for this project is Paul
Brown.
Tony Shawa continues to lead
the Roustabout Division. Gary
Cole, Fred Dinetclaw, and Ron
Page 10
Strayhan work for numerous clients in the San Juan Basin of
Northwest New Mexico and
Southwest Colorado.
Ed Abeyta and the insulation
group continue working for clients
in the San Juan Basin. Ed recently added BP as a client and
all are excited about the new addition of this customer.
MB Const. Serv.
Parachute, Colorado
970/285-9508
Shane King with Dennis Trueblood, Frank Fraser, Wally Hammer, Shon Wilson, Dale Harris,
and Dusty Dutton are putting the
finishing touches on the dirt work
for the Conoco Phillips man
camp. This is slated to be the biggest man camp in the western
US with capacity for 400 people.
They are moving on to the utility
prep phase next.
Mike Buniger, John Ahring, Mike
Tacy, and Shon Wilson have
been working with the Rocky Mtn.
division on a number of projects
building a compressor pad for
Chevron and brush clearing rightof-way for Momentum.
Rick Lyons and Mike Herrick
have been working with Paul
Brown of Rocky Mtn. Division on
some launcher pads for Chevron.
Walt Proulx and Gene Thurston
and their crews have been continuing their storm water drainage
work for Williams, Encana, and
PXP.
The majority of our work still lies
with Williams. Superintendent
Chuck Hughes, with his foremen
and a number of crews, are busy
keeping up with 23 drilling rigs,
building pads for Williams along
with the ongoing reclamations.
The Tree Line
Bobby Praither, John McHugh,
Mike Powell, Shane Apponot,
Mark Kulhman, Ed Reed, and
Toby Goddard are busy building
winter pads and preparing for
winter services on the Trail
Ridge for Williams.
Bernard Herwick with Mike
Dwire, Clayton Dwire, John
Reglin, Dale Harris, Mike Rogers
and Shane Moore are busy
building winter pads for Williams
on the other side of the mountain through the newly completed Wheeler Gulch Road with
a 3,200’ tunnel large enough to
haul the drilling rigs through.
Forest Bird and Steve Story,
with Matt Bunker, Shane Aplanalp, Gary Dickard, and Mike
Tacy, have just finished a location for Williams in Argyle Canyon, Utah and a county road
widening project for Duchesne
County in Utah.
Pipeline People
Buffalo Gap I&E would like to
recognize Ben Bernhard, Industrial Operations, for his ability to
find and coordinate a seemingly
endless supply of resources. In
this time of explosive growth the
ability to locate and obtain qualified employees is essential to
meeting schedules, maintaining
quality workmanship and keeping our clients satisfied. Ben’s
efforts and knowledge have afforded BGI&E the ability to staff
an extraordinary number of projects at any given time thereby
giving us the opportunity to
broaden our client base and
take advantage of the superior
market in which we find ourselves.
Cathy Davidson continued her
Jan.—Dec. 2007
efforts from last year by creating a
Field Office Assistant manual to
be utilized to train and aid in the
day to day duties of our Field Office Assistants. Through the help
of Annette Mills, Linda Spurlin,
Peggy Strickland and Carlos Sanchez, she has now combined the
PO manual created last year with
the newly developed Field Office
Assistant manual. This will serve
as a valuable tool in assisting our
existing FOA’s and superintendents in standardizing procedures,
as well as making the training of
new employees much easier.
paid properly, our vendors receive their checks and that our
division’s revenue is billed and
collected. Thank you all for your
efforts.
Eastern Division - Butch Drane
and crew of 95 employees successfully completed 9 miles of
22" abandonment with 6.85 miles
of 24" replacement north of Tuscaloosa, AL. Butch would like to
give special thanks to everyone
that assisted him on the project
and especially David McGary –
Tie-ins and Road Bores, Randy
Minard-Bending Engineer, KenSince the beginning of our calen- neth “Stretch” Butler, Nathan
dar year, we have processed over Stelly and all the welders, Kaye
215 bids. Keeping these bids
Drane, Shane McMullen, Jose
Montemayor, Mario Garcia,
logged, sorted, insuring timely
Manuel Gonzalez, Bill Butersubmittals and assembling the
documentation required is never
baugh, Elvis McSheridan, Prentice Miller, Stanley Wilson, Robert
ending. Paula Dunn and Bryan
Windham, who head up our esti- Leonard, Charles Credeur,
mating department, have done an Johnny Busby, and Herman Tayoutstanding job making sure that lor. Everything went well on the
our bids are recorded, tracked cor- project and Eastern Division has
rectly, completed, reviewed and
received high praises from our
safety audit, as well as our FERC
submitted on time.
audit. Mac Fondren (SNG assistant chief) said that this is the
Last, but certainly not least, I
would like to thank Peggy Strick- best job he and his inspectors
land, Linda Spurlin, Annette Mills have ever been associated with.
and Maxelle Baldree for their
dedication and hard work in keep- Foremost would like to recoging the administrative functions of nize one of their Foremen - Rodney Webb. Rodney has been
our division running smoothly
slung around on various projects.
through what at many times appeared to be chaos. With our ex- Over the past 2-3 years he has
run steel work, plastic work, the
ponential growth comes an
day to day operations of the Coequivalent explosive volume of
paperwork. We are working more lumbia Asphalt crew, worked speemployees than ever before in our cial projects such as Chill Water
history. Our accounts payable in- lines at Ft. Jackson, pipeline invoice count is at an all time high. tegrity work for CGT, maintenance work at CGT Compressor
We are billing record volumes.
Coupled with the fact that a large Stations, and anything else asked
of him. He has performed well in
percentage of this is T&M and
new situations and is willing to
Cost Plus work, the demands on
Accounts Receivable and subse- ask questions to learn what it
takes to lead his crew on these
quent collections can become
overwhelming. These employees projects. All of these things make
have given their all this year to
him a valuable employee and
make sure that our employees are great leader. Good job, Rodney.
Jan.—Dec. 2007
The Tree Line
Foremost has also hired three
new people in the office:
Wanda Gates, Renee Faile,
and George Aun. All three
are doing a great job and
have proven to be an asset
for the Foremost team.
On Friday, March 16, 2007,
Foremost moved from the
leased property on Dooley
Road in Lexington, South
Carolina to its brand new
building on Frontage Road in
Gaston, South Carolina.
They love the new facilities
and state that the buildings
are very nice and the large
yard space is wonderful.
Due to its dedicated and hard
working employees, the
Rocky Mountain Division
has experienced unparalleled
growth over the last two years
and has positioned itself as
the premier contractor in the
inner-mountain west. The
Rocky Mountain Division is
extremely proud of all its people and takes great pride in
knowing that our western clients continue to choose
Sunland because of the people that make up this special
group.
Station Division Superintendent Carl Tindol and his crew
have been working all over
the place this year. They had
a rough start to 2007 by completing a project in Delhi,
LA. After that, they moved to
LeCompte, LA for CrossTex,
where they completed the installation of two Cat 3616
units on time and within
budget. Then on to Pasadena, TX for TEPCO and
again they were on time and
within budget. They are now
on their way to LaPorte, TX to
assist on an Enterprise project. Thanks to Carl and the
entire crew.
Page 11
The challenge this year for the Station Division
office staff was to try and keep up with all the
“Cost Plus” billing, accounts payable and payroll for the larger than normal amount of work.
With “Cost Plus” work there is a huge amount
of paper generated and a million and one
things to keep track of. Fran Fontenot and the
office staff all rose to the challenge. We are
very proud and thankful for their hard work.
Change of Address
If your mailing address has changed, make
sure that you get that information to us so
that when we send out W-2’s at the end of
the year, you’ll get yours. Send your change to your office manager or contact Melody Guidry at 800-299-6295.
Years of Service
20 Years
David Clavier, General Manager, DHB
Teddy Pinson, Superintendent, Sunland
25 Years
Kyle Vidrine, Project Manager, Sunland
Danny Thibodeaux, Mechanic, Sunland
CO-WORKER
CONNECTION
1) Which company do you work for and years of service? I work for MB
Construction Services and have been there for 10 years.
2) Are you married, spouse's name, kid's names and ages? My wife’s
name is Nancy. I have two girls Sabrie 9 and Tayler 4.
3) What do you enjoy doing in your spare time? We have a boat and
enjoy our spare time on the lake. We make as many trips to Lake Powell as the summer schedule will allow.
Dustin Thompson, Equipment
Coordinator, MB Construction
Services, Inc.
4) What do you like most about your job? My favorite part of my job is
that no two days are the same. You don’t know what, where, or who a
new day will bring and there is always a new challenge. The thing I like
most about it is being able to be outdoors.
5) Where do you see yourself, career wise, in 10 years? Hopefully, in the next 10 years, I’m somewhere
up in Sunland. With the management training program allowing me to get more education in areas I’m
not as familiar with, I should have the training and experience to run one of the many companies hopefully.
6) This year, what has been your biggest work related challenge? My biggest challenge has been to put
the wrenches down and join the ranks of management on a full-time basis. Still working on that one.
7) This year, what has been your biggest work related achievement? Being able to work up the ladder
from mechanic to shop foreman to Equipment Coordinator and being able to see my hard work pay off.
Page 12
The Tree Line
Jan.—Dec. 2007
8) In your eyes, what sets the company you work for apart from the competition? Our people is what sets
us apart from other companies. Anybody can move dirt. Our people care about the finished product; it’s
a reflection of them. If the job looks good and the customer is happy, our people and our company feel
good about what were doing here. It boils down to pride in our work, something I think is hard to find
these days.
9) If you could change one thing about the company you work for, what would it be and why? Oh, where
to start. (Right now that’s a big list)
10) If you could have dinner with anyone, past or present, who would it be and why? James Bond. You
can’t get much cooler than 007.
*****************************************************************************************************
1) Which company do you work for and years of service? Buffalo Gap
Instrumentation & Electrical Co, Inc. 2 years this December. I have
worked in the Safety & Health industry for 18 years. I wrote my first
safety program at 15 years old for my landscaping business.
2) Are you married, spouse's name, kid's names and ages? Single, I
have an adopted mixed breed nicknamed Cujo.
3) What do you enjoy doing in your spare time? I practice Martial Arts,
and watch the history channel.
Troy Bonar, Division Safety
Manager, Buffalo Gap I&E
4) What do you like most about your job? I like to meet employees and
improve the quality of their employment. I really enjoy and respect the
people I work with.
5) Where do you see yourself, career wise, in 10 years? I have lived a full and blessed life, I try to stay
flexible as to what lies ahead. I would have never pictured myself where I am now, 10 years ago.
My goal is to continue taking on new challenges and creating positive results wherever I am.
6) This year, what has been your biggest work related challenge? Completing our training film. I have
learned a lot about Murphy’s law.
7) This year, what has been your biggest work related achievement? Duplication. My goal is for every
Supervisor to have the knowledge and resources to handle all aspects of safety on their job. In the last
year we have had more safety participation by all employees and less reliance on the Safety Department
to answer basic questions.
8) In your eyes, what sets the company you work for apart from the competition? This company takes
care of its employees, treating them as professionals and expects the same from the employees.
9) If you could change one thing about the company you work for, what would it be and why? I believe
we have come a long way since joining the Sunland family. Our continued growth and change is amazing.
I would like to see an international branch someday. This allows opportunities to broaden growth personally as well as professionally.
10) If you could have dinner with anyone, past or present, who would it be and why? There are many
great people I would like to meet, but I would choose my Grandfather. He passed away 2 weeks before I
was born.
Jan.—Dec. 2007
The Tree Line
Page 13
Sunland Construction, Inc.
P.O. Box 1087
Eunice, LA 70535
THE TREE L INE
A Newsletter for the Employees
of Sunland Construction
and Affiliate Companies
Editor: J. Felix Soileau
Layout: Melody Guidry
Contributors:
Randy Maturin, Gulf Coast Division
Kyle Vidrine, Gulf Coast Division
Bill Strickland, Buffalo Gap I & E
Jesse Williams, Rocky Mountain
Shannon Jett, Eastern Division
Scott Graves, Eastern Division
Hardy Lee, Eastern Division
Wanda Eslinger, Foremost Pipeline
Glenn Sebolt, Drilling & Station Div.
Dustin Thompson, MB Const. Services
Talk to us
Questions? Comments?
Want to submit an Article?
Got pictures or story ideas?
The Tree Line
Attn: Felix Soileau
Sunland Construction, Inc.
P.O. Box 1087
Eunice, LA 70535
[email protected]
1-800-299-6295 toll free
1-337-550-2120 direct
1-337-546-0245 fax
www.sunlandconstruction.com
The Tree Line is a publication of
Sunland Construction, Inc. Articles
are designed to be informative and
enjoyable. Information provided in
this newsletter should not be
considered contractual terms or
conditions of employment.
This newsletter is intended as
information and is not a substitute
for legal, medical or other
professional advice. The Tree Line
is published periodically during the
year and provided as part of our
employees’ benefit package.