Odebrecht Informa

ODEBRECHT
#149 • vol XXXVII • jul/aug 2010
I N F O R M A
English Edition
Aquapolo Project:
Recycled water boosts
industrial development
PVC for homes, the FIFA
World Cup and Rio Olympics
Contest lets you recount
your story at Odebrecht
Gaining a profession
The challenges for those who believed and achieved
today
United States, 2010.
odebrecht archive
Twenty years after arriving in the USA, Odebrecht is carrying
out a number of major projects in Florida and Louisiana after
working in California and North Carolina (the photo shows
Miami International Airport). During those two decades,
the company has experienced growth based on
long-term relationships established with clients
and contractors, and an in-depth understanding
and appreciation of the nation’s culture.
This has enabled it to become a truly
local company in the
United States.
04
Recovery of a strip of beach in Sepetiba restores one of the
loveliest stretches of RIO’S COASTLINE
06
ETH establishes a new ethanol and power production hub in
MIDWESTERN BRAZIL
08
OR’s partnership with Gávea Investimentos bolsters its growth
strategy in BRAZIL and OTHER COUNTRIES
12
In Mexico integrated water and power projects are a priority
for 2010-2012
15
Odebrecht Informa gives you an opportunity to recount
YOUR STORY with the Organization
16
Grooming farm equipment operators is a highlight
of ETH’s professional EDUCATION initiatives
18
Acreditar Program will educate over 1,800 workers on the
TRANSNORDESTINA Railway project in Brazil
21
Young Partners Program reaches top universities in the
capital and interior of Angola
22
Launching the first edition of the Introduction to the Odebrecht
Culture Program in the USA
26
Three Odebrecht companies join forces on the AQUAPOLO
PROJECT
29
Detailed engineering of Braskem’s GREEN ETHYLENE plant
uses 3D technology
30
Fire prevention training center at TRIUNFO, Rio Grande do Sul,
is the only structure of its kind in Brazil
32
Braskem invests in building a new PVC plant in ALAGOAS,
Northeastern Brazil
35
Comperj project in ITABORAÍ, Rio de Janeiro, involves largest
earthmoving operation in Brazilian history
38
The CATOCA diamond mining venture marks 15 years in
Angola
40
Construction of platforms P-59 and P-60 in BAHIA involves
unprecedented feat of engineering
42
Restoration of MORRO DE SAO PAULO’s fortress in Bahia
benefits former maroon communities
ODEBRECHT
INFORMA
149
Marines Gomes
da Silva, a
participant in
ETH’s professional
education program
for farm equipment
operators. Photo by
Guilherme Afonso.
sections
02
10
11
24
44
48
online version
profile
people
interview
newsroom notes
argument
02
w w w. o d e b r e c h t o n l i n e . c o m . b r
> online version
> video reports
> ETH Units are connected
to Brazil’s national power
transmission system
> Moatize Coal project
in Mozambique launches
Productivity Program
> In Dom Pedrito, Rio Grande
do Sul, construction of the
Taquarembó Dam enters a key
phase
> blog
> Read posts by the
magazine’s reporters and
editors on the Odebrecht
Informa blog written by Cláudio
Lovato Filho, Fabiana Cabral,
José Enrique Barreiro, Júlio
César Soares, Karolina Gutiez,
Leonardo Maia, Renata Meyer,
Rodrigo Vilar, Zaccaria Júnior
and collaborators.
ODEBRECHT
Founded in 1944, Odebrecht
is a Brazilian organization made
up of diversified businesses
with global operations and
world-class standards of quality.
Its 92,000 members are present
in the Americas, the Caribbean,
Africa, Asia and Europe.
> Young Partners Program
reaches the top universities
in Luanda and the interior
of Angola
> Project restores Morro
de São Paulo’s fort on Bahia’s
Costa do Dendê
> Recovery of a strip of beach
in Sepetiba restores one of the
loveliest stretches of Rio de
Janeiro’s coastline
> Braskem now produces
polypropylene in the USA
> web archives
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Responsible for Corporate Communication
at Construtora Norberto Odebrecht S.A. Márcio Polidoro
Responsible for PUBLICATIONS Programs
at Construtora Norberto Odebrecht S.A. Karolina Gutiez
Business Area Coordinators
Nelson Letaif Chemicals & Petrochemicals • Miucha Andrade Ethanol & Sugar • José Cláudio Grossi
Oil & Gas • Daelcio Freitas Environmental Engineering • Sergio Kertész Real Estate Developments
• Coordinator at Odebrecht Foundation Vivian Barbosa
Editorial Coordination Versal Editores
Editor-in-Chief José Enrique Barreiro • Executive Editor Cláudio Lovato Filho • English Translation
by H. Sabrina Gledhill • Art/Graphic Production Rogério Nunes • Photo Editor Holanda Cavalcanti
• Infographics Adilson Secco • Illustrations Gilberto Marchi • Electronic Publishing Maria Celia Olivieri
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Originally published in Portuguese. Also available in Spanish.
03
The challenge of grooming teams
Brazil is experiencing a period of massive public and private infrastructure investment.
And when the country hosts the FIFA World Cup in 2014 and the 2016 Olympics, those two
major international sporting events will increase the demand for projects and services. For
engineering and construction companies, which play a key role in this context, the biggest
challenge is grooming a skilled workforce big enough to meet the nation’s needs.
Odebrecht is doing its part to prioritize professional education at its construction
sites. This issue of Odebrecht Informa highlights one of the Organization’s initiatives
in this area: in the states of Pernambuco and Piauí, where its teams are building the
Transnordestina Railway, Acreditar, the professional education program born at the Santo
Antônio hydropower plant construction project in Rondônia, is once again proving its
effectiveness. Introduced at Transnordestina in March 2010, the program will produce 1,800
skilled workers, including production and earthmoving assistants, steelfixers, carpenters,
bricklayers, heavy equipment mechanics, truck drivers, and excavator, grader, tractor and
crawler tractor operators. By late May, 766 had already graduated. These are people who
now have more than a job; they have achieved a profession.
The bioenergy sector is also hard at work in this area. In Goiás, a Brazilian state where
ETH is present, the Odebrecht company that produces ethanol, sugar and electricity is
carrying out a professional education program for farm machine operators. The selection
process took place in December 2009, and 37 of the 40 participants who started the program
completed it in June. Thirty-four of them are already operating sugarcane harvesters in the
fields near the company’s Rio Claro Unit.
The subject of the cover story of this issue of Odebrecht Informa, the training
and qualification of Odebrecht’s teams is a daily task for the Organization’s leaders in Brazil
and all the other countries where they are present. In Angola, for the first time the Young
Partners program has reached major universities in the capital and interior of the country.
In Mexico, support for Organization members’ development has garnered acclaim for
Odebrecht as a benchmark in that country. In Angola, Mexico and Brazil, the future is being
built through the transmission of knowledge, confidence in people’s ability and desire
to develop, and a crucial emphasis on the spirit of service.
Full understanding and shared experience of these principles form the basis of the
alliance between three Organization companies on the Aquapolo Project, which will
supply recycled water for industrial use in São Paulo State. The synergistic work of these
companies is making an important contribution to Brazilian industry. It is an example
of harmonious entrepreneurial operations in the service of Brazil.
04
environment
Derci da Silva: he played
soccer on the beach with
his friends as a teen
Paradise regained
The restoration of a strip of sand restores one
of the loveliest stretches of Rio de Janeiro’s coastline
written by Marcus Neves / photos by Américo Vermelho
Born in the Sepetiba district of Rio
de Janeiro 75 years ago, the retired
upholsterer Derci da Silva used to
play soccer on the beach with his
friends as a teen. He mourns the
decline of that area, which was
once a favorite getaway for local
families and people from other
neighborhoods. “Many vacationers
had a holiday or weekend home in
Sepetiba. When the quality of the
beach was lost, they stopped coming. The result was a sharp drop
in real-estate values and a blow to
local commerce.” So far, Derci’s
words are steeped in gloom, but he
goes on to express great expectations: “I hope that once the beach is
back to what it was before, all this
will change,” he says.
odebrecht informa
Located in the Western Zone of Rio
de Janeiro, at the end of Sepetiba
Bay, the eponymous district has
40,000 inhabitants. Even Brazil’s
royal family used to visit it in the
early nineteenth century, before its
beaches lost their lushness in the
mid-twentieth century due to the
constant accumulation of silt brought
in by the tide.
In May, Odebrecht Infraestrutura
teams launched the Environmental
Rehabilitation of Sepetiba Beach
project, an initiative of the Rio de
Janeiro State Department of the
Environment, which is restoring that
strip of sand. It is a long-held dream
for local residents.
Carried out by 150 Odebrecht
members, the first stage of the
project is to clean up the layer of
silt, which involves removing debris
and solid materials. The remainder
will be covered with a permeable
geotextile that allows water and
gases to flow through. Fresh sand
will be obtained from an underwater deposit in the bay, 7.5 km from
the beach, and brought in by two
dredgers thath will pump it onto the
shore.
The new strip of sand, which will
be up to 400 m wide, will be reserved
for leisure and sports, thereby contributing to the growth of new businesses focused on providing services
to residents and visitors.
The silt deposits on that part of
the beach have produced typical
mangrove plant life (Rhizophora,
From January to October 1973, the
Globo Network broadcast the first
color telenovela in the history of
Brazilian television: O Bem-Amado
(The Well-Loved One). Written by
Dias Gomes and directed by Régis
Cardoso, it has become a classic,
starring Paulo Gracindo in the role
of the Mayor of Sucupira, Odorico
Paraguaçu, and Lima Duarte as the
gunman Zeca Diabo. Although the
tale unfolds on the coast of Bahia,
the soap was shot in Sepetiba.
Odebrecht team works
to restore the beach in
Sepetiba: covered with a
permeable geotextile
Laguncularia and
Avicennia) and a type of
crab known as chamamaré. Therefore, before
placing the geotextile,
as its first mission, the
company will collect and
relocate 525,000 seedlings
of local plants and about
780,000 crabs.
“The seedlings are being
transplanted on Fundão
Island in Guanabara Bay,
where the State Department of Environment, our client, is
restoring the Cunha Channel by replanting the area with
its original mangrove vegetation,” says Odebrecht Project
Director Marcos Teixeira. “The crabs’ new home is a
beach on the Santa Cruz Air Base, in an adjacent district,”
he adds.
The restoration project is slated for completion within
a year. The Sepetiba community sees it as a watershed
initiative that will usher in a new era for their neighborhood. “Especially for local businesses, which have suffered due to the economic stagnation of recent years,” said
Paulo Eduardo Dias Sampaio, President of the Artisanal
Fishermen’s Association of Sepetiba (Apas), who adds this
observation: “Commerce really needs to recover, but it
is important for fishermen to build a pier where they can
unload their fish and a ramp for boat repairs and maintenance.” There are indeed great expectations in Sepetiba.
odebrecht informa
06
bioenergy
Power in the
heart of Brazil
ETH’s Alto Taquari Unit, in Mato
Grosso (this page), and Morro
Vermelho Unit, in Goiás
(opposite, below): sugarcane
milling will begin in 2010
ETH’s fourth ethanol and electricity production
hub fuels economic growth in the Brazilian Midwest
written by Guilherme Oliveira / photos by Holanda Cavalcanti
In the second half of 2010, ETH
Bioenergy will start up operations
at its fourth ethanol and electricity production hub, located on the
tri-state border of Goiás (GO), Mato
Grosso (MT) and Mato Grosso do
Sul (MS). Later this year, two new
factories – Morro Vermelho (GO) and
Alto Taquari (MT) – will start milling
sugarcane, and by 2012, two more
will go onstream. All told, these four
units will create around 5,000 work
opportunities and make ETH one of
the leading companies in the sugar/
power industry.
Completely mechanized, and
equipped with advanced technology, the factories will have another
advantage – low maintenance costs.
Managing Director Fabiano Zillo
underscores the features that set
this production hub apart: “The layout of these units will allow greater
odebrecht informa
use of sugarcane straw as fuel for
power generation, even during winter. Another innovation is the highcapacity diffuser to extract the juice.”
To adapt the plants to the dry climate
of Brazil’s Midwest, in addition to
water-free cleaning systems, they are
equipped with a gas scrubber that
reduces water consumption.
Jointly, by 2012 Morro Vermelho,
Alto Taquari, and Costa Rica (MS)
and Emendada (GO) will have the
installed capacity to mill 14.4 million
metric tons of sugarcane per harvest,
enough to produce 1.3 million liters
of ethanol and 1,180 GWh of electricity. To meet its production needs, ETH
will plant around 200,000 ha of sugarcane. “It’s a challenge, because the
region’s economy is also based on
other crops and livestock husbandry.
We will engage in an intensive process to qualify suppliers and tenant
farmers to become long-term partners of ETH,” observes Fabiano Zillo.
The new units will increase income
levels and the quality of jobs in nearby towns and cities, and have already
begun to heat up their local economies. Fernando Freitas, a merchant
Fabiano Zillo and Erico
Baracho (below):
qualifying suppliers
and grooming teams
and great-grandson of the founder
of the Goiás city of Mineiros, emphasizes: “Developments like these drive
the region and benefit the city’s businesses. We will see a major positive
change in the services sector in the
coming years.”
Educating and grooming teams
of skilled workers to operate farm
equipment is another challenge. “By
2012, we will have 5,000 members,”
says Erico Baracho, the People and
Administration Manager at the Hub.
“Our priorities include educating
these workers, adapting them to new
technologies, providing conditions for
this talent to stay in the company and
introducing them to the Odebrecht
Entrepreneurial Technology (TEO),”
he says. He also highlights the
importance of good community relations. “We have visited several towns
in the vicinity to introduce them to
ETH: who we are, what we do, and
how we want to partner up with our
local municipalities and community
members.”
By 2012, production at the new
hub will represent roughly 40% of
ETH’s total output. Although significant challenges lie ahead, Fabiano
Zillo is confident. “The team is highly
motivated. There are many top-notch
professionals here who are team
players that identify with ETH and
have undertaken the responsibility to
help the company become number
one in its industry.”
odebrecht informa
08
real estate
From left, Luiz Fraga, a Gávea Investimentos partner, Marcelo Odebrecht, President and CEO of Odebrecht S.A.,
Armínio Fraga, President and CEO of Gávea Investimentos, and Paul Altit
Joining forces
OR partners up with Gávea Investimentos to bolster its strategy
of being real estate investors' preferred choice in Brazil and other
countries written by Domitila Carbonari
Odebrecht Realizações Imobiliárias
(OR), the Organization’s real estate
subsidiary, will launch major corporate, commercial, residential and multipurpose ventures in 2010 in all the
regions of Brazil where it is present.
They will total 5,000 units, representing
a consolidated sales volume of BRL
3 billion. These are the real estate
company’s highest numbers since its
inception.
In May, OR announced the
arrival of a new partner: Gávea
Investimentos, one of the leading
asset managers in the Brazilian
financial market. “Synergies with
other Odebrecht companies on
integrated infrastructure and real
estate projects enable us to develop
outstanding housing solutions for the
economical segment, through Bairro
Novo (New Neighborhood), and
middle- and high-income segment.
Now, Gávea will help us achieve our
goal of being the preferred choice
for real estate investors in Brazil
and other countries,” says Paul Altit,
Entrepreneurial Leader (CEO) of OR.
Founded in 2003, Gávea Investimentos
operates in three areas: hedge funds,
asset management and private equity.
It has a total of about 100 members
at its Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo
offices, and currently manages assets
valued at roughly BRL 10.2 billion. Gávea
Investimentos now owns a 14.5% stake
of OR, and has two representatives on its
Board of Directors. They are Amauri Bier
and Ricardo Schenker Wajnberg.
"Synergies with other Odebrecht companies enable us to develop outstanding
housing solutions"
odebrecht informa
[ Paul Altit ]
OR Housing Solutions
Bairro Novo
Construction and delivery of Bairro Novo (New
Neighborhood) units are continuing at a rapid pace. In
2010, OR’s brand for the economical housing segment
launched new stages in the city of Fortaleza and the
Jardins do Mangueiral Public Private Partnership
(PPP) in the Federal District (Brasilia). Additionally,
5,900 units are being built for Guaranteed Demand
projects for families earning from zero to three
minimum salaries (one minimum monthly salary
= BRL 510 in July 2010). This year, the company
has been contracted to deliver over 3,800 units in
Peixinhos, Ceará; João Matos, Pernambuco; and São
Gonçalo and Angra dos Reis, Rio de Janeiro.
Brisas do Lago
OR’s latest venture, Brisas do Lago (Lake Breezes),
marks the company’s arrival in Brasilia’s
high-end housing segment. Carried out in partnership
with Antares Engenharia, this project is a 750-room
extended-stay hotel. It will be built on a
28,000-sq.m property flanked by the Golf Club
and Lake Paranoá. The company sold 80%
of its units on the launch date.
Murano
≥
An absolute sales success in Santos, São Paulo,
with 75% of units sold on the launch date, The Garden,
located in the Bairro do Orquidário (Orchid District),
is the result of a detailed study that revealed major
potential for increasing real estate values in that
region.
OR has launched a new high-standard development
in harmony with environmental principles on the last
piece of land available on Icaraí Beach in Niterói, Rio de
Janeiro. At Murano, apartments will have ample balconies
overlooking Icaraí Beach and Canico Mountain. Murano
has a GSV (General Sales Value) of BRL 250 million, and
80% of its units were sold in the first month, matching the
success of the company’s first venture in Rio de Janeiro,
Dimension & Park Office. Launched in December 2009,
80% of its units have already been sold.
Reserva do Paiva
New launches
In the first half of 2010, OR’s clients will be receiving
delivery of Morada da Península, an exclusive
gated community in Reserva do Paiva. The state of
Pernambuco’s newest planned district, it is located
in Cabo de Santo Agostinho county. Also in 2010, the
company will launch Vila Coral, a 132-unit complex of
apartments with areas of 238 to 251 square meters
overlooking the sea and the Atlantic Forest.
OR is getting ready to launch more developments in the
coming months: Vila dos Corais, in Reserva do Paiva,
Pernambuco; Hangar and Patamares, in Salvador, Bahia,
and new ventures in Campinas and Santos, in São Paulo
State, and Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais. The company has
also launched an innovative concept in vacation homes,
Quintas Private Residences, on the state of Bahia’s Costa
dos Coqueiros (Coconut Coast).
The Garden
odebrecht informa
10
A cosmopolitan country boy
written by Renata Meyer
PERSONAL ARCHIVES
“Olímpia is the capital of the universe.” Engineer Pedro
Mathias talks about his hometown in rural São Paulo State
with a touch of humor and nostalgia. Despite his strong roots
in the Brazilian countryside, the youngest of seven siblings
soon learned to admire different cultures.
Married with two children, Pedro has worked in Gabon and the
Netherlands. Just over a year ago, he moved to South Korea,
where he is Project Director for the construction of drill ships
Norbe VIII and Norbe IX. Although it took a while to get used
to the local language and cuisine, he guarantees that life in
that country has many attractions. “Koreans are wonderful
people. They’re very friendly and, like the Brazilians, they love
to have fun.”
An oil drilling expert, Pedro joined Odebrecht Perfurações
Ltda. (OPL) in 1983 and worked at the Organization’s first oil
drilling subsidiary until 1997. Then, in May 2009, he returned
to join the team at Odebrecht Oil & Gas (OOG), OPL’s recently
created successor. Based on nearly 30 years’ experience in
the oil business, Pedro views honing people’s skills as one
of his biggest challenges at this stage of his career. “We are
responsible for grooming professionals who can serve their
clients anywhere in the world,” he says.
Outside of his busy work schedule, which includes
inspections, equipment tests and regular team
motivation activities, among other tasks, Pedro
visits friends, goes hiking, looks after the family
dogs and travels. “My wife, Fernanda, and I have
our own personal PA (Action Program), which
includes visiting as many Asian countries as
possible.”
odebrecht informa
11
by eliana simonetti
Living non-stop
Responsible for five Functional Programs at Odebrecht, including Procurement
& Logistics and Finance, MILENA MORENO GIGLIOTI and her partners are carrying out initiatives that expand Organization members’ knowledge. She lives in
Santo André, 30 km from the São Paulo office, and travels throughout Brazil to
see how programs are being developed and utilized. Her lifestyle is fast paced,
and she likes it that way. So much so that, in her spare time, her favorite sport is
running. “I’m not one to stand still,” she explains.
PERSONAL ARCHIVES
Milena’s fast-paced lifestyle
Passionate about places and cultures
An Argentine national with an engineering degree and an
MBA, PABLO BROTTIER joined the Organization in Brazil
four years ago. He has travelled extensively in that country,
visiting 16 states on business and as a tourist. Now, he is
back in his native land, where he is Project Director for
the CCR unit being built for the YPF oil company. When
asked to describe Buenos Aires, he says, “It’s a city with
everything to offer.” And he gives some tips: “I recommend
taking a tour of the city. Whatever you do, you must try a
parrillada (barbecue) in Puerto Madero or Las Cañitas.
But I warn you, there’s no point in asking them to cook
thick cuts of bife de chorizo, top loin or vacío well done.
That’s impossible!”
The joys of country living
Rubian and (whenever possible) rural peace and quiet
RUBIAN ZILLMER has lived in Nova Alvorada do Sul, in the southeastern Brazilian state of Mato Grosso do Sul, for ten years, and joined
ETH Bioenergy two and a half years ago. A native of Rio Grande do Sul
in southern Brazil, she has a business degree with a specialization in
Human Resources Management. She is responsible for people development, educational and training programs in the operational area of
the company’s industrial and agricultural units. Rubian enjoys life in the
country, where her children can play safely, but she travels often and
can’t always enjoy the rural peace and quiet. “ETH has given me the
opportunity to have educational leaders. I work with people from varied
cultural backgrounds and have learned the importance of adapting and
being influenced by others,” she says.
Guilherme afonso
Guilherme afonso
Pablo, an Argentine who knows Brazil well
odebrecht informa
12
mexico
Because of people
Odebrecht gains recognition in this country for offering growth
opportunities to its members
written by Leonardo Maia / photos by Roberto Rosa
Odebrecht
Mexico Members:
confidence
in youth
odebrecht informa
For the third consecutive year,
Odebrecht Mexico has garnered the
title of Socially Responsible Business
from the Social Responsibility Alliance
(AliaRSE) and the Mexican Center
for Philanthropy (Cemefi). By making
socially responsible management an
integral part of its business strategy,
for the second time the company has
also secured a place on the list of “100
Best Companies to Work For,” based
on a survey conducted by the Great
Place to Work Institute that measures
the quality of the working environment
and the strength of the company’s
organizational culture.
According to Luis Weyll, CEO of
Odebrecht Mexico, these accolades
are mainly the result of the priority the
company ascribes to its members and
community relations. “The application of the Odebrecht Entrepreneurial
Technology gives us outstanding
management, which is clearly evident
in the way our teams work together
and interact, and how we deal with
communities, unions and other institutions. In addition to all this, our
concern for occupational safety and
the social and environmental aspects
of our operations creates a basis for
sustainable growth.”
The effort to hone members’
expertise gets special attention on
both of the Odebrecht projects now
underway in that country - the upgrading and expansion of the General
Lázaro Cárdenas del Río Refinery for
Petróleos Mexicanos (Pemex) in Mina-
General Lázaro Cárdenas
del Río de Minatitlán Refinery
• PROJECT: two of the six packages of services for the
refinery. Package 4: hydrogen, sulfur and diesel units.
Package 5: amine, coker naphtha and delayed coking
units, with associated gas plant.
• LOCATION:
State of Veracruz
• PERIOD:
February 2005 to
December 2010
• COMPANY MEMBERS:
2,400 (3,600 at peak)
titlán, and the Michoacán Farm Irrigation Project for the State Government
of Michoacán. “Mexico is becoming a
hub for grooming skilled professionals
who go on to work in other markets.
Professionals here have similar qualifications to those of their counterparts
in Brazil,” observes Luis.
In this context, the highlight is the
Michoacán project, which currently
has 15 members who have taken part
in the Young Partners program. They
are working on a project with a strong
social aspect that will supply water
to a drought-stricken region of the
country. A dam and two channels will
irrigate farmland in that area. Evaristo
Martinez, a 25-year-old engineer, is
proud to be playing an active role in
this process. “Water produces direct
benefits for society. The public’s satisfaction is a well-known fact. They
offer us fruit to thank us for our work.”
Evaristo joined Odebrecht 18 months
ago and plans to make his career with
the company. “Here, young people are
trusted, which makes our responsibility even greater. If more trust were
placed in Mexico’s youth, I am convinced that this country would be better. We feel like we own the business,”
he says.
Tzitziki Del Vale is also 25 and has a
degree in Economics. Her eyes shine
when she talks about her work at
Michoacán. “This is one of the most
important projects in the country, and
the first job opportunity for nearly all
the young partners here. I live at the
campsite from Monday through Friday,
working alongside different people
who all share the desire to develop.
This isn’t just a job for me – it’s where
I live, make friends and create affinities,” says Tzitziki.
Engineer Álvaro Monroy, 28, is also
working on the Minatitlán project, and
he has ambitious plans for the future.
He was pleasantly surprised by the
group interview that took place during
the hiring process, which is unusual
in his country, as well as when the
then-CEO of Odebrecht Mexico,
Miguel Peres, called him by name on
the second day of interviews. “I was
the one with everything to gain and I
couldn’t even remember his name!
That caught my attention and showed
how much the company values people.
I soon realized that this was a careermaking company.” Speaking excellent
Portuguese with a very slight accent,
Alvaro reveals one of his dreams:
working in Brazil. “My first goal was
learning Portuguese. When I joined
the company, I saw that it was highly
odebrecht informa
Michoacán Farm Irrigation Project
• PROJECT: building a dam 89 m in height and
268 m in length, and two channels (one 35.5 km
and the other 22.5 km in length).
• PERIOD: December 2006 to July 2011
• COMPANY MEMBERS: 630
• LOCATION: State of Michoacán.
internationalized, and began studying
the language. Today my main target is
Brazil,” he says.
Basis for growth
Growth is the watchword at Odebrecht Mexico, which focuses on specific
areas to make that market one of the
most important ones for the company
in Latin America. Investing in people is
a top priority. “Our youth is committed
and adherence to our culture is strong.
People’s education and training will be
our springboard for growth. We want
to transform ourselves into a mature
market by 2012, operating as a local
company,” underscores Luis Weyll.
The pursuit of maturity is taking
place at a time when Odebrecht Mexico is coming of age, with 18 years’
experience in that country. Its track
record includes projects that have
become national landmarks, such
as the Los Huites Dam. “Mexico is
experiencing a new stage of growth.
It is one of the two largest economies
in Latin America, but only has a 2%
share of exports from Brazil. Its economy is worth USD 1 trillion, close to
odebrecht informa
that of the USA, which creates a very
attractive market for the operations
of several Odebrecht companies,”
adds Luis.
For example, Braskem is making its biggest foreign investment in
Mexico – Ethylene XXI, a USD 2.5-billion petrochemical project underway
in Vera Cruz. The majority partner
in the venture, with a 65% stake,
Braskem will form a partnership with
IDESA of Mexico. The plant will go
into operation by 2015, producing up
to a million metric tons of ethylene
and polyethylene annually. “We have a
synergistic relationship with Braskem
and Odebrecht Engenharia Industrial
(the Organization’s industrial engineering subsidiary). We are joining
forces to benefit both partners. We
can’t just be builders. Now we are
also investors and want to make projects feasible for this country,” says
Luis Weyll.
During the three-year period
between 2010 and 2012, Odebrecht
is focusing on integrated projects in
the water supply and energy sectors.
This is a market niche that meets
the urgent requirements of states
like México, Michoacán, Vera Cruz,
Campeche and Tamaulipas. “Our plan
is to gain ground in each state of the
federation. We will partner up with
midsize companies and deliver solutions that include financial structuring,” says Luis. “Today, 90% of this
country’s energy is dependent on oil.
The Mexican Government has plans
to shift to 40% renewables. Projects
like these will receive special incentives,” he observes.
contest
15
Recount your story at Odebrecht
This is the name of the contest that will reward the winner
with a cover story on issue no. 150 of Odebrecht Informa
Everyone has a story. And every
story is worth telling.
Therefore, Odebrecht Informa is
holding the “Recount your story at
Odebrecht” contest to celebrate the
150th issue of the magazine, which
will be published in September this
year.
All members of the Organization
can participate (except the team
that produces the magazine) by
writing about their careers at
Odebrecht or an interesting incident
or watershed event in the course of
their professions.
The winning story will be featured on the cover of issue no. 150.
The other stories will be published
online in the magazine’s digital
edition.
“Our goal is to provide an
opportunity for members of all
Odebrecht companies to share
the stories of their professional
careers," says Karolina Gutiez,
the officer Responsible for
Odebrecht’s Publications Programs.
“By enabling people to tell their
own stories, this contest is also
Odebrecht Informa’s contribution to the retrieval, dissemination
and preservation of our corporate
memory.”
Remember the deadline
To participate, members must
submit their stories at the following
web address: www.odebrecht.com/
contesuahistoria. The writing style is
left to each author’s discretion, but
pay attention to the length requirements: entries cannot be less than
3,000 characters (including spaces)
or more than 4,000 characters
(including spaces) long.
The essays must be submitted
in Portuguese, English or Spanish.
Members who write in other languages will have to have their story
translated into one of these three
languages before submitting their
entry.
If they like, members can also
send in JPG photos that represent
their careers at Odebrecht. The
images should portray situations,
places or people related to the
story, avoiding pictures that are out
of context with the subject matter.
Entries can be submitted
between July 9 and 5 pm GMT on
July 30, 2010.
The winner will be chosen by a
judging panel and announced on
August 16 at www.odebrecht.com/
contesuahistoria.
odebrecht informa
16
professional education
The courage to
change and grow
The Training Course for Farm-Machine Operators and other professional
education initiatives are creating life and career prospects for residents
of the communities where ETH is present
written by Guilherme Oliveira / photos by Guilherme Afonso
I heard about it from a sound truck and
realized I had the wrong sort of job,” says
Lucelma Binatti. “I wanted to get ahead.”
ETH Bioenergy’s open invitation to the communities of Caçu and Cachoeira Alta, in the
Brazilian state of Goiás, made Lucelma, who
has a Nursing Certificate, apply for a place in
the company’s training program in December 2009 and leave the profession she had
followed for nearly 20 years at Caçu County
Hospital. She was determined to join the class
of 40 people taking the Training Course for
Farm-Machine Operators, one of the professional education programs ETH is offering in
its units’ local communities.
The program made available to Lucelma
and her classmates took 500 class-hours,
including theory and practice, and ended in
June. Thirty-seven of the 40 students graduated and 34 are already operating harvesters
in the cane fields near the company’s Rio
Claro Unit. “The sugar/power industry is mod-
odebrecht informa
ernizing and growing very quickly, but
it lacks skilled workers. We must help
the community obtain the necessary
job skills,” explains Cláudia Ajbeszyc,
the ETH officer Responsible for People
Development.
A month before the group graduated,
the same story unfolded once again:
ETH announced that there were 180
more openings for seven groups of
students who would take courses totaling over 1,600 class-hours. This time,
the invitation was extended to company
members working at the Rio Claro
Unit as well as the local communities.
“It’s important to offer in-house growth
opportunities and show our members
that they have career prospects. We
must ensure the continued growth of
these professionals,” Cláudia observes.
One company member who seized
that opportunity with both hands was
Uilane Melo, age 22. Born in Mirangaba, Bahia, early this year she moved
to Cachoeira Alta along with her husband and father, who roam Brazil in
search of work, season after season,
manually harvesting sugarcane. After
weeding the fields for three months,
she got a job directing traffic at the
Logistics yard. The following month,
Uilane signed up for and was selected
to take the Farm-Machine Operators
training course. She will soon be back
in the fields, this time, at the wheel of a
harvester.
The classes are being taught in
partnership with the SENAI (National
Industrial Apprenticeship Service).
Students in programs like these do not
just learn to operate equipment. “They
learn about parts, the engine, mechanics and the cause of every problem that
could arise,” explains Edson Silva, a
student in the tractor operator class.
“Even people who have been operating
equipment for a long time should learn
these things!”
Edson had been working as a cane
cutter since he was 13 when he put
down his machete and enrolled in
the course. “After 120 hours of study
and training, there’s no way you won’t
become an excellent operator. I’m
studying hard so I’ll be hired before the
course is over,” he says hopefully.
Lucelma, Uilane and Edson come
from different backgrounds but are on
the same track. Driven by the courage
to change their lives, they have found
the career opportunities they needed in
the cane fields.
Rio Claro Unit
in Caçu, Goiás
odebrecht informa
18
professional education
Making dreams
come true
At the Transnordestina Railway works,
the Acreditar Project is a way to get a profession
written by Cláudio Lovato Filho / photos by Élvio Luiz
odebrecht informa
Genicleide, Thiago and Elisângela.
Three Brazilians in search of a profession. They found one in the backlands of the northeastern Brazilian
state of Pernambuco, where the
Transnordestina Railway is being
built. Genicleide and Elisângela have
become truck drivers and Thiago is
now a carpenter. All three look forward
confidently to a bright and rewarding
future.
They all achieved this through
the Ongoing Professional Education
Program, or Acreditar (Believe), which
arrived in Salgueiro, Pernambuco, in
March 2010, bringing work opportunities and income to a region whose
economy relies on agriculture and has
historically faced major challenges.
That is where the program got its
start on the Transnordestina Railway
works. One of Odebrecht’s bases for
that project is in Salgueiro, where its
teams are building the stretch linking
the Port of Pecém in Ceará with the
Port of Suape in Pernambuco. In April,
the program was introduced at another
Pernambuco jobsite: Serra Talhada. In
May, it was the turn of Paulistana, in
the state of Piauí.
By the end of that month, Acreditar
had graduated 766 workers out of
the 3,706 students enrolled, 708 of
whom are participating in the Federal
Government’s Bolsa Família or Family
Grant program. One hundred and
RAILWAY WILL LINK
THREE STATES
Built through an alliance
contract between Odebrecht
and Transnordestina Logística
S.A., a subsidiary of Companhia
Siderúrgica Nacional (CSN), the
Transnordestina Railway will
be 1,728 km long and connect
three states: Ceará, Piauí and
Pernambuco. Odebrecht is
responsible for the construction
of the 1,100 km section between
Eliseu Martins, Piauí, and Suape,
Pernambuco, which is slated for
completion by 2012.
Elisângela:
breaking
a taboo
Genicleide: “I want to make
this my career”
seven of the graduates were hired to
be production and earthworks assistants, steelfixers, carpenters, bricklayers, heavy equipment mechanics, truck
drivers, and excavator, grader, farm
tractor and crawler tractor operators.
And 238 of the graduates are women.
Genicleide da Conceição Santos,
31, is the mother of three. She used
to work in sales, but wanted to drive a
dump truck. Her father, a farmer, had
owned one, and as a child she used
to take the wheel now and again. She
signed up with Acreditar as soon as
the program arrived in Salgueiro. In
just 12 days, she had taken the basic,
theoretical and practical modules
taught by SENAI (National Industrial
Apprenticeship Service) instructors.
She completed the course on May 28.
Now she is waiting to be called in to
work at the jobsite. “I want to make
this my career,” she says. She already
has her sights on her next target: “I'm
going to learn to operate an excavator.”
odebrecht informa
Thiago Bruno Costa, 21, also hoped
to get a job at the railway works and
his story already has a happy ending. He graduated from the carpentry
course in April and started work on
May 19.
“This here is everything I imagined!”
he says. His stepfather and older
brother are carpenters, and Thiago
made his own toys as a child. Today,
he is helping build a railroad that is
over 1,700 km long. Geraldo Jerônimo
da Silva listens to Thiago’s conversation with the Odebrecht Informa team
with an air of satisfaction. The general
supervisor in charge of rail bridges, he
has been with Odebrecht for 35 years,
and spent the last seven in Angola.
“He’s got to say if he wants to be a
professional or not,” says Geraldo,
referring to Thiago. He explains in the
words of a leader: “It takes dedica-
tion and patience on our part.” Jorge
Raffide, the engineer responsible for
rail bridges, adds: “Acreditar is an
investment. We mentor the people who
join our team. The results will come in
a few months’ time.”
If it depends on the new professionals’ motivation, the results
will exceed expectations. “I’m here
because I like driving and because
there’s a lot of prejudice against
women drivers,” says Elisângela
Rodrigues Chaves, who graduated
as a dump truck driver. “I want to
help break that taboo.” She started
driving at age 9, behind the wheel of
her father’s truck. “We have some
terrific life stories here,” says Luiz
Antonio de Freitas, Odebrecht’s
Administrative Officer in Salgueiro.
Expectations are that Acreditar will
produce another 1,800 skilled work-
ers at the Transnordestina works.
This is the first time Odebrecht
has implemented the program in
partnership with another company,
Transnordestina Logística S.A. The
two companies are building the
railroad under an alliance contract.
“As entrepreneurs, we are committed to empowering workers to play
an active role in these works and
future projects in the region,” says
Odebrecht Project Director Pedro
Leão. In another first, the Acreditar
program is being carried out in
two states at the same time on the
same project, in Pernambuco and
Piauí. “The involvement of local
partners, such as municipal governments, churches, trade associations
and the media, has been crucial to
the results we are achieving with
Acreditar,” says Pedro.
Geraldo and
Thiago:
generations
working side
by side at
the jobsites
odebrecht informa
angola
21
Young Partner participants in the edition begun in 2009 and the one held in 2004: professional growth
Reaching out to youth
Young Partners program grows and reaches Angola’s top universities
in the capital and interior written by Fabiana Cabral / photo by Eduardo Barcellos
In 2009, Odebrecht Angola’s Young
Partners Program included all the
major universities in that SouthwestAfrican country for the first time, and
had a surprising number of applicants – 1,345. A total of 151 young
people were pre-approved and 16
began working on several projects in
early 2010, including civil engineer
Belter Cordeiro da Silva. “I wanted to
acquire professional experience that
can’t be found in books,” he says.
Odebrecht’s partnership with educational institutions affords a continuous exchange of experiences and
enables students to visit the company’s projects in Angola. “Thanks
to the expansion of the program, we
want to be students’ first choice,”
says Diana Ortiz, the company’s
officer Responsible for People and
Organization.
One afternoon in April, the current
Young Partners and four Organization
members who participated in the
program in 2004 (held at Agostinho
Neto University) got together in
Luanda. Their meeting with the
Odebrecht Informa team gave these
former and new young partners an
opportunity to trade information.
“We are contributing to the nation’s
development by working for an
Organization that values education
and training,” said Agílio Campos,
who joined Odebrecht as a Young
Partner and is now the Equipment
and Industrial Plants Manager at
the Huambo and Malange projects.
Young Partner Nanucha Miguel
listened attentively to Agílio’s comments before observing: “Youth is the
lifeblood of society.”
When enrollment begins in August
2010, the program will include educational institutions in even more
Angolan cities. “Investing in young
people’s professional development
is a commitment that Odebrecht has
undertaken with this country," says
Diana Ortiz.
odebrecht informa
22
united states
Transforming
lives
In-depth knowledge of TEO
and its application in the USA
changes people’s daily lives inside
and outside the workplace
written by Leticia Novis Villasboas
photos by Denise Cruz
"TEO is a philosophy of work and life unlike any I’ve experienced"
odebrecht informa
[ Gregory Hal Newman ]
Larger photo, participants in the first US
edition of the Introduction to the Odebrecht
Culture Program in Miami. In the other
photos, Gilberto Neves (at the microphone),
the Odebrecht CEO in that country, with
Renato Baiardi, a Member of the Board
of Odebrecht S.A., and Jairo Flor, Odebrecht’s
Planning, People and Finance manager
in the United States, giving a presentation
to program participants: spotlighting
leader-team member relations
Odebrecht arrived in the United
States 20 years ago. Through the
Introduction to the Odebrecht
Culture Program, whose first
edition in that country (and in
English) began in Miami on May
7, the Odebrecht Entrepreneurial
Technology (TEO) is reaching the
Organization’s American members
with an emphasis on productive
study and the discussion of the
principles that have characterized
Odebrecht since its inception.
Celia Sherwood, Sam Ballan
and Gregory Hal Newman, young
Odebrecht members in the USA,
are among the 45 people in the
class taking the first edition of
the program, which will run until
August 2. For Celia, Sam and
Gregory, this is an opportunity to
heighten their perceptions and
knowledge of TEO, as well as to
make discoveries about their own
professional and personal lives.
Sam is an engineer who joined
Odebrecht 15 years ago and is
now working on the project that
will connect Miami Airport to the
city’s metro system. Thanks to the
introductory program, he realizes
that TEO has always permeated
the relationships within his team.
“Learning about the Odebrecht
Culture invariably depends on the
‘student’s’ active efforts,” he says.
“TEO is a tool for growth within
the Organization. You’re not an
employee, you’re a partner. What
we have here is not just a job, it’s
your business, your project,” he
adds.
Gregory, an engineer who joined
Odebrecht two years ago and currently works on the pumping plant
projects in Jefferson Parish, in the
New Orleans metropolitan area,
observes: “TEO is a philosophy of
work and life unlike anything I’ve
experienced at other companies.”
He also notes that his contact
with TEO has broadened his horizons and enabled him to set new
standards for analyzing businesses in general.
By participating in the program, Celia, who has been with
Odebrecht for 14 years and is
now on the company’s Planning,
People and Finance team, realized
that through her leader’s encouragement she has come to believe
she can always overcome her own
limitations through a “constant
cycle of recommencing and overcoming.”
For Odebrecht members in the
United States, the experience of
TEO has been reflected in changes
in people’s professional and
personal attitudes. Celia clearly
remembers when, shortly after
joining Odebrecht, her leader
told her what he expected of her
in terms of performance. Celia
thought, “My God, is he really
going to want me to do all that?”
Later on, she understood that
his expectations were imbued
with “Planned Delegation” and
“Trust.” Celia took those lessons
home and decided to complete
her studies to set an example for
her children in what she calls a
demonstration of the concepts of
“Leadership” and the “Pedagogy
of Presence.”
Now she is working hard to
get her kids involved in volunteer
projects to encourage them to
practice the “Spirit of Service”
within their family.
odebrecht informa
24
interview
Cultivating
leadership
“It’s critical to have a clear vision of a motivated,
competent and aligned team.” This statement
by José Carlos Grubisich, Entrepreneurial
Leader (CEO) of ETH Bioenergy, gives a
good idea of how this native of Itatinga,
São Paulo, leads the company whose
goal is becoming a leader in the bioenergy market by 2012. “Hard work and
discipline are also key,” he adds. An
Odebrecht subsidiary, ETH focuses on
integrated production, marketing and
logistics for ethanol, electric power
and sugar. In this interview, José
Carlos Grubisich tells Odebrecht
Informa about the major transformation that is underway in
the sugar/power industry, both
in terms of operations – with
upgraded and more automated
technology – and consolidation,
which is giving rise to robust
groups that can grow even faster
and more competitively.
written by Zaccaria Júnior
photo by Holanda Cavalcanti
odebrecht informa
Odebrecht Informa – Brazil is now
the global leader in the sugar/ethanol industry. What stages of development were required to attain that
position?
José Carlos Grubisich – First,
Brazil has a historical tradition of
sugarcane and ethanol and sugar
production. We have experienced
three major periods. The first was
the arrival of sugarcane in this country for the production of sugar and
cachaça. It was originally planted
in the Northeast and later came to
the Central South. There was a second period of major investment and
growth associated with the use of
ethanol as an alternative fuel through
the Proálcool program (launched
in 1975 under President Ernesto
Geisel), which appeared to give the
country a certain energy independence during the oil crisis. The third
period began with the creation of the
Flex engine, which has completely
changed the industry’s dynamics.
OI – Why is the Flex technology having
such an impact on the industry?
Grubisich – Flex technology, which
was launched on the Brazilian market in 2003, is very creative, allowing
the consumer to decide which fuel to
use based on price or environmental
awareness. The introduction of the
Flex engine has radically impacted
the growth curve for ethanol production.
OI – How much has ethanol production grown in Brazil?
Grubisich – To give an idea, ethanol
consumption in 2006 was around 12
billion liters. By 2009, reported consumption growth was twice that – 24
billion liters. Ethanol has proven
to be a clean renewable fuel that
is also competitive, as it ends up
being cheaper than gasoline in most
Brazilian states.
OI – And compared with other fuels?
Grubisich – In recent years, due to
the major changes underway in this
industry due to investment and modernization, the cost of ethanol production has fallen significantly and its
sales price has been very competitive
compared to gasoline. In 2009, more
ethanol than gasoline was sold on the
Brazilian market for liquid fuels.
OI – Is the global market following
the same consumption trend?
Grubisich – Increasing consumption of
ethanol in the United States, Europe,
Japan and China, countries that have
researched the matter further, has the
advantage of reducing dependence on
oil. Oil prices have not risen as much
as they would have under normal
conditions, and the big advantage, in
addition to energy security, is to have a
fuel that reduces emissions of carbon
dioxide and other greenhouse gases. It
offers the hat-trick of energy security,
competitiveness and sustainability.
Ethanol, which is already a reality in
the Brazilian market, has also attracted the attention of major fuel consumers around the world.
OI – Is ETH prepared to meet this
demand?
Grubisich – The industry has
changed a great deal. Factories are
bigger and have added more technology and automation. Farming is
entirely mechanized, from planting to
harvesting. ETH started out with the
aim of achieving complete mechanization in its operations. All our units
(nine all told, with production hubs in
the states of São Paulo, Mato Grosso,
Mato Grosso do Sul and Goiás) have
the requisite scale: they each produce 4 million to 6 million metric
tons of sugarcane, which is two to
three times more than the Brazilian
average for this sector. The social
and environmental conditions at our
company are also considered the
most advanced in the industry.
OI – What is the biggest challenge
facing ETH today?
Grubisich – It is linked to our ability to carry out the projects that are
already underway. Based on a total
investment of BRL 7.3 billion, by
2012 we want to become a bioenergy
leader, producing 3 billion liters of
ethanol and 2,700 GWh per year of
electricity from sugarcane. This year,
in addition to the expansion of our
existing units, two new ones, Morro
Vermelho and Alto Taquari, will go
into operation (see article on pages
6 and 7).
OI – How are the company’s teams
tackling this challenge?
Grubisich – One of the cornerstones
of our culture is having confidence in
people and grooming them so they
can fully take on their responsibilities
and entrepreneur the business. The
Odebrecht Organization’s culture is
revolutionizing the industry.
OI – Now that the industry has been
consolidated, professionals’ qualifications must also be brought up to
par. Do you agree?
Grubisich – Yes, I do. In the last harvest season alone (2009-2010), ETH
invested about BRL 500,000 in educational and training programs. Every
month, 22% of ETH’s approximately
8,000 members go through some kind
of training, either technical, health and
safety, or leadership development. All
these programs are aligned with the
Odebrecht Entrepreneurial Technology.
This makes a very big difference in the
way we operate. We want to become
the number one company in the bioenergy sector, both in ethanol and power
production, using biomass as fuel. The
key is always combining sustainability
and competitiveness.
odebrecht informa
26
water & sewer
Team spirit
Foz do Brasil, Quattor and Odebrecht Infraestrutura partner
up on a project to supply recycled water for industrial use
written by Marco Antônio Antunes / photos by Guilherme Afonso
The aim of the Aquapolo Project,
being carried out for Sabesp (the São
Paulo State water and sewer company)
in a 15,000-sq.m area on the grounds
of the ABC Sewage Treatment Plant
(ABC STP) at the boundary between
São Paulo City and São Caetano do Sul,
is to provide water recycling services
to Greater São Paulo’s main industrial
district. It is also the best example
of what could be called full synergy among three subsidiaries of the
same organization. Three Odebrecht
Organization companies are taking part
in this project: Quattor, a subsidiary of
Braskem, Foz do Brasil, which operates in the environmental engineering
sector, and Odebrecht Infraestrutura,
which is responsible for building the
infrastructure facilities.
odebrecht informa
The result of a BRL 253-million
investment, this project will supply
recycled water to companies based
at the Capuava Petrochemical
Complex in the ABC Paulista region.
The water will be transported from
the Industrial Water Plant in São
Paulo City to the industrial district
via a 17-km steel pipeline that will
run through Santo Andre and São
Caetano counties. The main client will be Quattor. Investments
and operations will be carried out
by Aquapolo Ambiental, a Special
Purpose
Company (SPC)
set up by Foz
do Brasil (51%)
and Sabesp
(49%), through
a 34-year contract that will extend
until 2043.
The raw materials for the plant will
be supplied by Sabesp’s STP, which collects and treats sewage from the ABC
region and the East Zone of São Paulo.
After undergoing primary and secondary treatment, it will be returned to
Ribeirão do Meninos, a tributary of the
Tmanduateí River, which flows into the
Tiete. The Aquapolo plant will ensure
that much of this water receives tertiary
treatment, thereby making it suitable
for industrial use on a large scale.
São Paulo Governor Alberto
Goldman observes: “This will be
the largest plant of its kind in the
Southern Hemisphere and the fifth
largest in the world.” Aquapolo will
produce up to 1,000 liters per second
of treated water. “Through this new
venture, Sabesp is fulfilling its goal
of being an environmental solutions
business,” says Gesner Oliveira, the
President of the state-owned water
and sewer company.
In addition to benefiting the industries that use water in their processes,
which will no longer run the risk of
shortages, the project has another
important advantage: Sabesp will
increase the supply of treated drinking
water for the São Paulo metropolitan area, where water sources are
becoming increasingly scarce. The
amount of first-use water that will no
longer be consumed by industries is
large enough to continuously supply a
city of 350,000
inhabitants.
The Aquapolo
plant will sup-
ply up to 650 l/s of water for industrial use, but its design allows for
further expansion to over 350 l/s,
to meet the demand from potential
clients in São Paulo, Santo Andre
and São Caetano. “Through this
project, we are ensuring the perpetuity of the petrochemical complex, which will no longer depend
on water from the Tamanduateí
River and first-use water from
springs,” says Guilherme Paschoal,
Foz do Brasil’s Project Director at
Aquapolo Ambiental. “Without a
guaranteed supply of water for their
long-term projects, these companies would certainly lose competitiveness,” he adds.
Currently, companies at the petrochemical complex obtain water
from two sources: a treatment plant
at Petrobras’s Capuava Refinery
(RECAP), Petrobras, which uses water
from the Tamanduateí, and additional sources, totaling 380 l/s, and
Sabesp, which produces potable water
at a rate of 191 l/s.
Fadlo Eduardo Haddad, Process
Engineering Manager at Quattor’s
Basic Chemicals Units and the
company’s Manager for the
Aquapolo Project, points out: “Of all
the projects the company had studied over the past years, this was the
one that was most guaranteed to
achieve two basic goals: sustainability and reliability.”
In addition to synergy and
sustainability, Emyr Costa, the
Project Director for Odebrecht
Infraestrutura, underscores an
essential factor for the project’s success: “the state-of-the-art technology being used.” The water treated
by the ABC STP will first use an
ultrafiltration membrane called a
Tertiary Membrane Bio-Reactor
(TMBR), with some of the output
going through reverse osmosis
membranes, similar to the process
ABC Sewage Treatment Plant, where the Aquapolo Project is underway:
recycled water for industries at the Capuava Complex
odebrecht informa
Environmental
Engineer Amanda
Cavalhero: controlling
water quality.
Smaller photo:
the ultrafiltration
membrane
of desalinating seawater. This additional step is designed to ensure the
desired level of purification.
“The magnitude of this investment,
the amount of water to be produced
and the technology being introduced represent an unprecedented
scale for the Southern Hemisphere,
so Aquapolo is breaking several
paradigms at once,” says Fernando
Santos-Reis, Entrepreneurial Leader
(CEO) of Foz do Brasil.
Another major challenge is
the construction of the pipeline,
which has already begun, in an
area as densely populated as the
ABC region. The methods chosen
to avoid overbreak on the surface
include pipe jacking, which employs
a hydraulic jack to drive a concrete
shield with a diameter of 1.5 m into
a service tunnel, where the pipeline
odebrecht informa
will then be inserted. The other is
the tunnel lining method, which is
excavated manually and uses 1.4-m
diameter steel shields, which are
assembled step-by-step to facilitate the insertion of the pipeline.
In some less populated areas,
the pipeline will be laid in open
trenches, and other sections will be
installed above ground, supported
by concrete blocks.
According to the contract signed
by Aquapolo Ambiental and Sabesp,
the Aquapolo system can store recycled water in four large tanks that
the STP is not using. A pilot plant
has been installed next to those
tanks to simulate the processing
stages that will be used at the future
treatment facility. It processes sewage treated by Sabesp through the
combined systems – ultrafiltration
membranes and reverse osmosis producing recycled water with the
same characteristics that the actual
plant will deliver.
Amanda Cavalhero, 26, an environmental engineer who joined
Odebrecht a little over a month ago,
is responsible for supervising the
tests at the pilot plant, which was
installed by technicians from Koch
Membrane Systems of the United
States. A wastewater treatment
expert, Amanda says her main job is
to check whether the water produced
at the pilot plant complies with the
client’s specifications in order to
confirm the parameters used at the
Aquapolo Project. “We can safely say
we have achieved excellent quality
water that is nearly as pure as drinking water, even if it’s just for industrial use,” she explains.
Foreground, from left: Hacy Rodrigues Filho, Nelson Endo, Leonardo
Cittadella, Emyr Costa and Edgar Nunes; rear, Carlos Cezar de Albuquerque,
Jair Campos da Silva, Reynaldo Moreira Júnior, Frederico Marcos de Barbosa,
Fadlo Haddad and Guilherme Paschoal: complementary expertise
petrochemicals
29
Eduardo Turchet and the Green Ethylene plant: “You can work with design changes more effectively”
From 3D to real life
New software technology enables engineers to design petrochemical
plants in 3D. The Paulínia Unit was the first
written by Júlio César Soares / photos by Ricardo Chaves
José Carlos Aversa and Gilberto
Yoshida can’t hide their enthusiasm.
“You see the finished project, you
can walk through it and talk it over
with your partners,” says Aversa,
the Odebrecht Engenharia Industrial
(Industrial Engineering) Project
Director for the construction of the
Braskem Green Ethylene plant in
Triunfo, Rio Grande do Sul. “You can
see every change made in the design
– when one pipeline crosses another,
and where there is underground
wiring,” adds Yoshida, who was
Odebrecht Engenharia Industrial’s
Engineering Coordinator for the construction of Braskem’s polypropylene
unit in Paulínia, São Paulo, which
opened in 2008. They are referring to
a new tool called Smartplan – software technology that makes it possible to design plants in 3D: buildings,
pipelines, all the electric and water
and sewer systems – everything.
The Paulínia plant was the first
project in Brazil to be designed
with Smartplan, a computer program developed by the US company
Intergraph and distributed in Brazil
by Sisgrap. Genpro Engenharia,
Odebrecht’s partner on this project,
uses it to produce blueprints for the
plant. Gilberto Yoshida explains that,
compared to conventional methods,
the amount of time saved thanks
to Smartplan is about four months.
“The benefits go beyond the visuals,”
he argues. “With Smartplan, you have
a database of parts and equipment at
your disposal that is replenished with
every project.”
Completed in April, the detailed
engineering of Braskem’s Green
Ethylene Plant in Triunfo was the
second project to use this tool.
“Today’s engineers have assimilated
the program and already gained
more design knowhow,” says José
Carlos Aversa. He adds that one
of Smartplan’s main advantages is
enabling engineers to visualize the
project before ground is broken.
Eduardo Turchet, the officer
Responsible for Engineering on
the Green Ethylene plant construction project, has only used
two-dimensional designs in college, from which he recently graduated. Since he joined Odebrecht
Engenharia Industrial three years
ago, he has only worked with 3D
tools on the company’s projects. “In
2D, you have to imagine the project,
whereas with Smartplan, you have
a spatial view of it, which lets you
work with any design changes more
effectively.”
The next project to be designed in
3D with Smartplan will be Braskem’s
new PVC resin unit, which will
be built at the Marechal Deodoro
Industrial Complex in Alagoas.
odebrecht informa
30
petrochemicals
Firefighter starts putting out
the flames during a test conducted
at Triunfo: strict standards ensure
safe driving
Trial by fire
The training center for fighting fuel tank fires
is a benchmark for Brazil’s auto industry
written by and photos by Luciana Moglia
"Safety, space and design are the most important factors for
clients in the automotive market"
odebrecht informa
[ Marcos Celestino ]
It is the only structure of its kind
in operation in Brazil. Housed in
the Triunfo Petrochemical Complex
in the state of Rio Grande do Sul,
the Braskem Fire-Fighting Training
Center has a specific area for fire
tests of passenger car fuel tanks
made with a special type of plastic
that Braskem supplies to the auto
industry.
The tests meet this country’s
official technical requirements and
are performed with the use of a
large container, which is ignited
during testing, and a crane, which
lifts the car to be exposed to the
flames. The area is cordoned off
with concrete walls, and fire-proof
glass windows protect the people
monitoring the test at a minimum
distance of three meters. During
the trials, the fuel tank is attached
to the vehicle and filled to 50%
capacity.
After one minute, the burning
container is moved using a mat,
and placed under the fuel tank,
which is directly exposed to the
fire for 60 seconds. Then, a brick
screen is placed between the
flames and the tank for another
minute. Finally, the container is
removed and firefighters extinguish the flames. “This test has to
be carried out on every car model
using at least three tanks, so the
product is technically approved
without having any sort of leak,”
says Marcos Celestino, the
Braskem application engineer who
oversees all tests performed at the
company.
The last test was conducted
in April on the tank of a new
model that will hit the market
in September 2010. The product
was manufactured by IPA, South
America’s leading manufacturer
of plastic fuel tanks. IPA became
a Braskem client two years ago.
During that period, the two companies have already partnered up to
conduct other fire tests for tanks
used in the Honda Fit, Honda Civic
and Citroën Crosshair, explains Luiz
Cláudio Pascon, Industrial Director
of IPA. He stresses the importance
of maintaining a close relationship
with Braskem. “We must always
seek joint solutions to make adjustments and innovations,” he says.
According to Harley Bueno, a
Director of the Brazilian Automotive
Engineering Association (AEA),
automakers are increasingly concerned about the safety of their
vehicles, and preventing fuel tank
leaks is essential. Therefore, they
are subjected to pressure, thermal
and leak tests, in which their efficiency is also determined by applying force.
The advantages of plastic as raw
material for fuel tanks have led to
that application’s rapid growth in
recent years. “The properties of
polyethylene make it more resilient
and ensure greater impact absorption compared to metal,” observes
Marcos Celestino. “Safety, space
and design are the most important
factors for clients in the automotive market. The properties of plastics cover all these requirements,”
he says. Harley Bueno stresses the
malleability of the raw material as
an asset. “Plastic tanks can fit in
ever-smaller spaces without interfering with the vehicle’s autonomy.
For example, a fuel tank installed
under the seat is less likely to be
damaged in an accident than if it
is at one end of the vehicle,” he
explains.
Braskem is the leading supplier of plastic resins used to
make light and heavy vehicles in
South America. For that market,
the company produces a family
of special High Molar Mass HighDensity Polyethylene products
(coded as GM 7746 C and GM
7746 CA).
Ressoi Schubert, Braskem’s
Account Manager for Performance
Products, notes that 66% of the
passenger cars made in Brazil in
2009 were equipped with plastic
tanks. “The expectation is that
this percentage will reach 74% in
two years,” she says. One hundred percent of vehicles made by
manufacturers like Honda, Toyota,
Renault and Peugeot already use
plastic tanks; the figure for GM
is 95%, and for Volkswagen and
Ford, 85%.
odebrecht informa
32
petrochemicals
The shape of the times
Braskem’s projected business volume for the next few years
leads the company to make new investments in PVC production,
including a new factory in Alagoas
written by Thereza Martins / photos by Lalo de Almeida
Bungalows and townhouses built in São Luís do Piraitinga,
São Paulo: the historic town was hard hit by a flood in early
2010. The photos on the opposite page show the steps
involved in building a new house
odebrecht informa
"These homes will meet the needs of the families that registered
for housing and whose situation worsened earlier this year" [ Ana Lúcia Bilard ]
Braskem will invest BRL 920
million to increase its PVC production capacity by 40% by 2010.
That amount, which the company
recently approved, will make it
possible to build a new factory
next to its Marechal Deodoro Unit
in the northeast-Brazilian city
of Maceió. Braskem currently
produces 510,000 metric tons of
PVC annually, of which 260,000
come from Marechal Deodoro and
250,000 from the company’s unit in
Camaçari, Bahia. As of May 2012,
the date set for the official opening
of the new plant, its capacity will
total over 200,000 metric tons per
year, providing the necessary boost
to meet domestic demand.
"At the current pace of growth
in Brazil, the domestic market will
absorb 980,000 metric tons of PVC
by the end of 2010,” says Vinyls
Business Director Marcelo Cerqueira.
“There is a balance between supply
and demand in the Brazilian market,
but considering the turnover projected for the coming years, those
figures require investments in added
capacity.”
The construction industry
accounts for nearly 60% of the use
of PVC in pipes, fittings, shapes
and frames. That segment’s performance improves when the economy
is doing well, as it is now, when
estimated Gross Domestic Product
(GDP) growth ranges from 5% to 7%
by the end of the year.
In addition to construction, the
infrastructure sector also generates
good business for the plastic resin
in its various applications – from
water and sewer pipes used in public
sanitation to compact sewage treatment plants and buildings, which
are designed for the use of PVCConcrete. A construction system
introduced in Brazil nearly a decade
ago, it offers solutions for towns like
São Luis do Paraitinga, São Paulo.
A historic town that lies in the
Paraíba Valley, São Luis do Paraitinga
was hard hit by a flood in early 2010.
Now, 45 bungalows and 106 townhouses are being built with PVC-Concrete.
Their future residents are some of the
people who lost everything they had
when the Paraitinga River overflowed
its banks. After several days of heavy
rain, well above normal levels for that
season, the river had flooded, destroying churches and houses built with clay
bricks, a construction method typical
of the nineteenth and early twentieth
centuries.
The construction of these new
homes is the responsibility of the
São Paulo State Housing Authority
or CDHU. The municipal government
had earmarked the land for public
housing a month before the flood.
The emergency required a solution
that combined quality with speed of
execution. “These homes will meet
the needs of the families that registered for housing and whose situation
worsened earlier this year,” says Ana
Lucia Bilardo, Mayor of São Luis do
Paraitinga. “During the second stage
of this program, we will build houses
to resettle families now living in
Permanent Protection Areas (PPAs).”
odebrecht informa
São Luís do Piraitinga: PVC-Concrete Construction System’s advantages
include quick execution, and the durability and practicality of PVC
The contract for the construction of 151 buildings was signed
by CDHU and Royal do Brasil
Technologies, a Braskem client. The
PVC-Concrete Construction System
is a method that Royal developed in
Canada, and uses lightweight PVC
shapes that fit together as modules,
leaving a hollow space free to be
filled with concrete and structural
steel. In Canada, it is known as the
“PVC House” system. The name
PVC-Concrete was created by another partner, the Brazilian Portland
Cement Association (ABCP).
Royal has its own team in São Luis
do Paraitinga, composed of architects, engineers and technicians,
along with 66 workers recruited
and trained locally (fitters, masons,
carpenters, electricians, carpenters
and assistants). “We have been active
in Brazil since 2002 and have built
homes, schools, clinics and gas stations, in addition to sanitation projects and works in other segments,”
says Carlos Eduardo Torres, Royal’s
Director General in Brazil.
Listing the advantages of the
PVC-Concrete Building System,
Torres stresses rapid execution, the
durability and practicality of PVC
(easy cleaning and maintenance),
and lower consumption of water
odebrecht informa
and power at the construction site.
“We started the project at São Luis
do Paraitinga on March 17 and we
already have 45 houses ready or
nearing completion.” The buildings
are, on average, 65 sq.m in area.
PVC-Concrete is also being used
in another major venture focused
on building houses in flood-ravaged
areas, in this case caused by the rains
of 2008 in the southern state of Santa
Catarina. Braskem’s partner on this
venture is Global Housing, a supplier
of PVC shapes and panels. The funds
being used to build about 300 houses
were donated by Saudi Arabia.
FIFA World Cup and Olympics
Brazil is getting ready to host the
2014 FIFA World Cup and the 2016
Olympics, which will mobilize billions
of dollars in investments. For the
World Cup, for example, studies and
estimates show potential economic
impacts of about BRL 180 billion, of
which 26% will be invested directly,
including investments in infrastructure, and 76% indirectly. The same
studies indicate the possibility of creating 330,000 permanent and 380,000
temporary work opportunities.
The selection of projects and
contractors is already underway. Odebrecht participated in
the tenders for three stadiums
to be built according to the new
stadium-arena or multifunctional
stadium concept. They will seat up
to 50,000 persons and, in addition
to football, they will be used for
concerts, conferences and other
events, bringing in extra resources
for their maintenance.
Odebrecht has won two of the three
tenders: one for the reconstruction
of Fonte Nova stadium in Salvador,
and another to build a new stadium
in Recife. “We are reviewing proposals for partners for these projects.
Braskem is among them, as a supplier of PVC and other thermoplastic
resins for seats, facade elements,
roofing, rainwater collection systems for reuse and other construction items,” says Eduardo Martinez,
Odebrecht’s World Cup Projects
Director.
This vast range of business opportunities for PVC guided Braskem’s
decision to build the new plant in
Marechal. Carried out through an
alliance with Odebrecht Engenharia
Industrial (Industrial Engineering),
the project will break ground in
July. It will create about 2,000 work
opportunities during the construction phase, hiring local professionals
whenever possible.
industry
35
One of the 850 pieces
of heavy equipment
used on the project: fastpaced work at Comperj
As far as the eye can see
Construction of the Rio de Janeiro Petrochemical Complex
involves the largest earthmoving operation ever carried out in Brazil
written by José Enrique Barreiro / photos by Marcelo Pizzato
It is the largest earthmoving project in Brazilian history.
Not even the construction of the
Itaipu or Santo Antonio hydropower plants, or the Camaçari
or Triunfo Petrochemical
Complexes were nearly as large
as the operation being carried out in the area where the
Rio de Janeiro Petrochemical
Complex (Comperj) will be built
in Itaboraí county. “They are moving 220,000 cubic meters of earth
per day,” says Carlos José Cunha,
Project Director at Odebrecht
Infraestrutura, the Organization’s
infrastructure subsidiary.
The total area of Comperj is
45 square kilometers, of which
25 sq.km are being bulldozed by
CTC – Consórcio Terraplenagem
Comperj, a joint venture of
Odebrecht Infraestrutura and contractors Andrade Gutierrez and
Queiroz Galvão.
The construction of Comperj is
an initiative of Petrobras, which is
once again making direct investments in the petrochemical industry. Slated to begin operations in
2013, the complex will house a
refinery and petrochemical plants
producing upstream products
(ethylene, benzene, propylene,
butadiene and others) and downstream products (polyethylene,
polypropylene, styrene, ethylene
glycol and others), as well as auxiliary buildings. The state-owned
oil giant plans to invest up to BRL
25 billion in the project, of which
BRL 5 billion is for civil construction works and BRL 20 billion is
for industrial installation. The
most innovative aspect of Comperj
will be the production of petrochemical FCC, a new method of
producing basic petrochemicals
that is adapted to the characteristics of Brazilian oil, replacing
naphtha and natural gas imports.
odebrecht informa
Big numbers at Comperj
“The area of this project is
three times the size of the Duque
de Caxias Refinery and six times
as large as Rio’s Copacabana
district,” says CTC Production
Manager Mário Almeida, from
Odebrecht.
All the numbers are big at
Comperj: every day, the project
uses a thousand pieces of equipment (including 850 units of
heavy machinery). They consume
200,000 liters of diesel daily. “A
very busy gas station sells 500,000
liters of fuel per month,” observes
Leandro Cerqueira, also from
Odebrecht, CTC’s Administrative
and Financial Manager.
To enable all those vehicles
to move about safely, there are
100 traffic signaling stations on
the jobsite, each with a worker
on duty 24 hours a day. “Our
signaling and signposting plan,
which directs all vehicle traffic,
is reviewed daily,” says Mário
odebrecht informa
Almeida. “The signs are manufactured at the jobsite, and the maximum speed is 40 km per hour.”
The 3,300 members working in
various areas of the project have the
support of six Fiorino cars, whose
occupants drive around all day,
distributing water and replenishing everyone’s supply. The cafeteria
serves 130,000 meals per month.
There is even a bakery that furnishes fresh bread on a daily basis.
“What we have here is a 45-squarekilometer town,” says Leandro.
Rain and its consequences
Rainfall is heavy in the region
where Comperj is being built.
When it rains, the earthmoving
stops and only resumes three days
later, after the work has been
inspected and reorganized. Rain
and moisture pose risks to workers and equipment. The biggest
is overturned vehicles. “Petrobras
is very demanding in this regard
and does not allow earthmoving
Aid for landslide victims
In April, heavy rain caused havoc,
destruction and death in Rio de
Janeiro State. One tragedy, in particular, moved everyone: the landslide on the night of April 6, in the
Jardim Viçoso district of Niterói,
where about 400 families lived.
Fifty homes were destroyed and 90
people died. That night, Odebrecht
Infraestrutura received a request
from Rio de Janeiro Governor Sérgio
Cabral to help the Civil Defense
service and Fire Department dig
through the rubble and rescue victims of the landslide on Morro do
Bumba. Two hours later, 24 trucks,
four bulldozers, one loader, a truckshop, several lighting towers and 80
company members, including engineers, supervisors and operators,
were at the site. The entire Comperj
project was transferred there.
For three weeks, Odebrecht teams
and equipment worked at Morro do
Bumba around the clock, helping
rescue 49 victims.
on rainy days or in less than optimum conditions,” explains Carlos
José. “The problem is that, when
it rains, it comes down so hard
that we haven’t been able to work
10 straight days since we broke
ground in April 2008.”
The stop-and-go pace makes
it difficult for the work to move
ahead quickly. The logistics, planning and engineering have to be
reviewed constantly. Every time
the work stops, the equipment is
taken in, checked and redistributed. “Every day, at 7 am, Petrobras
inspects the area and decides
whether or not to authorize the
work to start," says Leandro.
“Luckily,” adds Mário, “the area is
so large that sometimes it rains
in one part but not another, so we
can keep working there.”
Despite the rain, which exceeded
all forecasts in the first quarter of
2010, in April CTC reached the milestone of 35 million cubic meters of
earth moved, a first for Brazil.
The remnants of the Franciscan Order’s St. Bonaventure Convent, which
dates from 1670, in the Comperj region. In partnership with the Brazilian
National Trust (Iphan) and the State Cultural Heritage Institute (Inepac),
Petrobras is shoring up the ruined building. There are 22 archaeological
sites in the Comperj area, in which 5,000 ceramic, iron, glass and stone
artifacts from the Paleolithic period have been found and are being
catalogued by the Society of Friends of the National Museum (SAMN).
odebrecht informa
38
memory
Historic jewel
The Catoca diamond mining project marks 15 years in Angola
written by Fabiana Cabral / photos by Eduardo Barcellos
In November 1994, Angola celebrated the signing of a peace
agreement that would stop the civil
strife begun in 1975. In January
1995, a technical team from
Endiama, Angola’s state-owned diamond company, arrived in Saurimo,
the capital of Lunda Sul Province,
to do preliminary work at the
Catoca kimberlite, a complex system of diamond-bearing rock. The
newly formed Sociedade Mineira de
Catoca’s first steps were surveying and conducting hydrogeological
studies, and recruiting and training
local workers.
The region was first studied in
1965 by Companhia de Diamantes
de Angola (Diamang) when the area
was exploited by artisanal mining.
In the 80s, Endiama was formed
to replace Diamang and continued
with feasibility studies for the commercial exploitation of the kimberlite.
After signing a partnership
agreement with Russia’s Alrosa
S.A. to form a mining company in
1993, Endiama decided to seek a
new partner to take over the management of the project. “We had the
technology the Soviets introduced,
but there were shortcomings in
management and administration. Odebrecht was building the
Capanda hydropower plant and had
been working in Angola for nearly
a decade, so we decided to bring
them on board,” says Ganga Júnior,
odebrecht informa
then the Endiama director in charge
of mining and now Director General
of Sociedade Mineira de Catoca.
Odebrecht Angola Mining Director
Júlio Cruz recalls that the company’s initial operations demonstrated
the Organization's staunch confidence in Angola’s future. “Catoca’s
main asset is the knowledge its
members have accumulated over
the course of 15 years. This is the
decisive factor for surmounting the
next challenge, which is increasing
production.”
The company’s facilities and the
town that would house its members
were built amid resumed civil conflict. In addition to their daily activities, the workers were always on
the lookout for any unusual activity
in the kimberlite area. “The war
gave us a constructive spirit. We
Also known as “mother rock
for diamonds,” kimberlites are
complex rock formations of volcanic origin produced by magma
that did not overflow. Eruptions
formed outcrops on the earth’s
surface, where the magma cooled
and remained for thousands
of years. Their classic shape is
known as a “chimney,” something
like an inverted cone. Kimberlites
are mined on the surface and at
depths of up to 600 meters. The
dimensions of the Catoca kimberlite are 900 m x 915 m.
were confident and never retreated,” says João Salvador, Head of
the Personnel Department. Catoca
was the only mining operation that
was not invaded during that period.
In 1997, the year when the first
processing plant went online, an
Israeli firm, Daumonty Financing
BV (now the Lev Leviev Group)
became a partner in the company.
“Together, Endiama, Alrosa, Lev
Leviev and Odebrecht contribute
the strong points of each company
and culture,” observes Ganga
Júnior.
Thanks to constant technological
advances, from 1997 to 2003 the
mining company’s ore processing capacity rose from 1.8 million
to 4 million metric tons per year.
The head of the Mining Planning
Division, Rômulo Angelino Mucase,
took part in the development of
those processes, which intensified in 2005, when the second
processing plant went online.
Romulo joined Sociedade Mineira
de Catoca in 2001, after winning
the Odebrecht Engineering Award.
He says that mining engineering
is an art. “It’s the art of extracting subsoil resources and making
them available to the company in a
responsible fashion,” he explains.
In addition to focusing on technological innovation, the company
runs a professional development
training center in the town where
its members live.
Facilities of Sociedade Mineira de Catoca, in Luanda Sul Province: technological innovations and development
Joining forces
In 2009, the turbulence in the
global economy reduced production and sales figures. According
to Ganga Júnior, “We have kept on
the workforce, which is our most
important asset, and restructured in a transparent manner. We
reached maximum capacity in the
first months of 2010.”
Antonio Carlos Sumbula,
Chairman of Endiama, observes
that the company is showing
positive financial and operational
results. “Despite the crises the
industry has experienced, this
company is a national and international benchmark due to its
expertise, effiency and profitability.”
Sociedade Mineira de Catoca is
the fourth-largest diamong mining
company in the world and the fifthlargest company in Angola. “We
have 2,340 workers from several
countries,” says César Marianetti
Braga, an Odebrecht Member and
the mining company’s Human
Resources and Administration
Director.
Sociedade Mineira de Catoca carries out projects focused on education, sports, culture, leisure and health in Saurimo and the communities near the kimberlite that benefit about 2,500 people. The School
Snack Program, carried out in partnership with the City of Saurimo,
ensures that 2,000 primary school students receive a daily supply
of soy milk and bread. The Community Farming Program encourages
the creation of farm cooperatives with guidance for planting and help
in obtaining equipment. In addition, schools, community jangos (a sort
of auditorium), daycare centers, water wheels and solar lighting have
been built or installed in local communities.
odebrecht informa
40
technology
Miniature models,
major progress
The use of scale models in the lab enables teams
to find the best way to launch offshore platforms
written by Edilson Lima / photos by Eduardo Moody
At a shipyard in São Roque
do Paraguaçu, in Maragojipe
county, Bahia, 1,700 workers
since September 2008 have been
building two self-raising jack-up
platforms for Petrobras, christened P-59 and P-60. The project
is the responsibility of Consórcio
Rio Paraguaçu, a joint venture of
Odebrecht, Queiroz Galvão and
UTC Engenharia. Each rig will cost
BRL 370 million. As construction
moves ahead at the jobsite, some
important procedures are being
carried out far away, including
tests of scale models in Rio de
Janeiro, which will enable the joint
venture to implement an engineering solution that is unprecedented
anywhere in the world.
From June 2009 to March of this
year, Mario Moura and Jacques
Jacques Raigorodsky (left) and Mario Moura discuss the project.
Larger photo, rig under construction at the São Roque do Paraguaçu yard:
unprecedented operation
odebrecht informa
Raigorodsky, respectively the project’s Field Engineer and Technical
Consultant, headed up studies
of methods that could be used
to launch offshore oil platforms.
The three main methods currently
employed are fixed ramps, using
a sloping structure at the yard
to slide the rigs into the water;
building the rigs in dry dock, also
at the yard, where the platform is
built (in the end, the dry dock is
filled with water and the platform
floats through the main sluice)
and, finally, a submersible barge,
which docks at the yard where the
platform is loaded onto it. Then
the raft sinks until the structure
floats free.
As there is neither a fixed ramp
nor a dry dock at the São Roque
do Paraguaçu yard, and nobody in
Brazil owns a submersible barge,
the solution would be to build the
ramp or dry dock, or even import
a barge. None of these solutions
would cost less than USD 6 million. Therefore, the joint venture
proposed an alternative method to
Petrobras: launching the rigs with
the BGL-2, the state-owned oil
company’s non-submersible barge.
“The point is that nobody in the
world has never launched a jack-up
platform from a floating structure,”
says Jacques. “We will carry out
an operation that is unprecedented
worldwide,” he adds. To prove the
feasibility of using the BGL-2, tests
were performed with scale models
at LabOceano, a laboratory specializing in ocean engineering in Rio de
Janeiro.
First, a miniature version of a rig
was launched from a fixed ramp.
The goal was to obtain data on the
platform. Then the rig was tested
with a scale model of the BGL-2.
It was time to get to know every
inch and detail of the relationship
between platform and barge. The
resulting information was conveyed
to the appropriate software. After
comparing data from the scale
models with the computer program
the team started the third phase of
tests, which aimed to achieve the
most ideal launch possible, with
maximum safety.
“When the tests were completed,
we found that the closer we can
position the platform to the stern of
the barge, the lower the risk of damage to the hull of the BGL-2 and the
rig,” says Mario Moura. “Now that
the testing has been done, everyone
feels confident," he stresses. “We
are proud to be a part of this landmark moment,” says LabOceano
Engineer Cláudio Rodriguez.
Because of their weight (7,700
metric tons each), P-59 and P-60
will be released half-finished into
the Paraguaçu River and towed
back to the shipyard’s dock to
complete their assembly. They are
slated for launch in December
2010 and April 2011. The units
will be completed in June and
October 2011.
odebrecht informa
42
cultural heritage
Battling to save a historic fort
A restoration project is underway at Morro de São Paulo’s
17th-century fortress
written by Gabriela Vasconcellos / photos by Almir Bindilatti
The fortress at Morro de São Paulo
is located on Tinharé, part of the
chain of islands in Cairu county. It is
an important tourist destination on
the Costa do Dendê (Palm-Oil Coast)
in the northeastern Brazilian state of
Bahia. Its construction began in 1630,
but the fortress was only completed
in the following century. The scene of
many battles during Brazil’s colonial
period, it defended the entrance to
Todos os Santos and Tinharé bays, as
well as ensuring that supply ships got
through to the city of Salvador. Part of
one of the largest fort complexes in
Brazil, its 678-m wall has been dam-
odebrecht informa
aged over the years by wave action.
As a result, an emergency restoration
project got underway on that site in
January 2010.
Completed in July, the first stage of
this BRL 2.8-million project involved
the restoration of a 450-m section of
the wall. The partners funding this
initiative are the Ministry of Culture,
through the Cultural Incentives Law,
the National Bank for Economic
and Social Development (BNDES)
and the Institute for the Sustainable
Development of the Southern Bahia
Lowlands (IDES), an organization linked
to the Program for the Integrated
and Sustainable Development of the
Mosaic of Environmental Protection
Areas in the Southern Bahia Lowlands,
established by the Odebrecht
Foundation. The IDES focuses on
promoting Ethnodevelopment and
Sustainable Tourism in that region.
The project’s partners also include
the Federal Heritage Department, the
Bahia Department of Tourism and the
Municipal Government of Cairu. The
second stage, which includes the full
restoration of the wall, is currently
being negotiated.
Eduardo Mendes, the BNDES
Manager of Historic Heritage and
Collections, observes: “People walk
past them and have no idea of how
valuable these monuments are. We
have to leverage our supply capacity
and thereby help ensure a year-round
influx of visitors to the site.”
The first phase mobilized about
60 workers from Salvador and the
Southern Bahia Lowlands. “The procedure is basically fairly simple, but
it is being carried out under difficult
conditions because it is subject to sea
conditions,” explains architect Marcos
Galindo, who is running the project.
Supervised by the Brazilian National
Trust (IPHAN), an agency of the
Ministry of Culture, the restoration
work is being done with a view to preserving the monument’s original structure as much as possible. “If you take
into account its length and the fact that
the fort has been listed as a federal
heritage site twice, you can see how
important it is for Brazil,” underscores
IPHAN architect Francisco Santana,
who is overseeing the project and providing technical advice.
Once it is restored, the monument will be open to the public and
used for presentations of quilombola
(former maroon community) cultural
expressions, with an emphasis on
promoting “agriecotourism.” This is a
model for green, sustainable agritourism that is being implemented in the
Southern Bahia Lowlands through
programs supported by the Odebrecht
Foundation in partnership with civil
society, the government and private
enterprise. “The IDES is carrying out
a Heritage Education program to
strengthen the culture that already
exists in this area,” says Liliana Leite,
Executive Director of the institute.
“Our challenge is to make it more than
a tourism program,” she says.
Workers on the wall: the project is subject to sea conditions
odebrecht informa
> read more news on Odebrecht Informa’s website
ODEBRECHT ARCHIVES
44
From left, PDIS beneficiary Pedrina Belém do Rosário, José Carlos Santos, President
of the Pratigi APA Stewardship Association; Antônio Conceição Almeida, Mayor of
Ibirapitanga and Vice President of the Inter-County Consortium for the Pratigi APA;
Sha Zukang, United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs;
Manoel Vitório, Bahia State Secretary of Administration; Maurício Medeiros, Executive
President of the Odebrecht Foundation, and Haiyan Qian, Director of the UN’s Division
for Public Administration & Development Management
United Nations award
The traditional bonfires for St. John’s
Day, which is also celebrated intensely
in Barcelona, served as a reminder that
a small part of northeastern Brazil was
represented in that Spanish city. On that
date, June 23, which is a holiday in Spain
(Public Service Day), the Program for the
Integrated and Sustainable Development
of the Mosaic of Environmental Protection
Areas in the Southern Bahia Lowlands
(PDIS) received the 2010 United Nations
Award for Public Service.
Created by the Odebrecht Foundation,
the PDIS was the only initiative from Latin
America and the Caribbean among the
21 winners from 15 countries. It won first
place in the “Improving civic participation
in public decisionmaking processes
through innovative mechanisms” category.
The President of the Pratigi
Environmental Protection Area (APA)
Stewardship Association, José Carlos
Santos, and young Pedrina do Rosário,
one of the program’s beneficiaries,
accepted the award from Sha Zukang, the
United Nations Under-Secretary-General
for Economic and Social Affairs. Also
present were the Executive President
odebrecht informa
of the Odebrecht Foundation, Maurício
Medeiros, the Mayor of Ibirapitanga, Bahia,
Antônio Conceição Almeida, and the
Bahia State Secretary of Administration,
Manoel Vitório.
“This symbolizes our will to succeed.
We will multiply this accolade and make
the award won by the Southern Lowlands,
Bahia and Brazil bear further fruits,”
says José Carlos Santos. Mayor Antônio
Conceição Almeida observed: “Our
responsibility has redoubled. It’s time to
work even harder.”
According to Maurício Medeiros, the
award is a good sign for the PDIS. “What
sets this program apart is its innovative
system of participatory governance, which
creates a synergistic, collaborative space
for the construction of social initiatives,
and benefits everyone involved. It bolsters
social capital while governments,
civil society and businesses have the
opportunity to work together and help
further integrated and sustainable
development with a focus on the familyunit in order to achieve social inclusion
and the eighth millennium goal: ‘Everyone
working for sustainable development. "
Foz represents
Brazil at the
Global Water
Summit 2010
Foz do Brasil was the only Brazilian
company invited to participate in the
Global Water Summit 2010, one of the
most important events in the global water
industry. Bringing together companies
from several countries, the conference
took place in Paris on April 26 and 27.
Fernando Santos-Reis, Entrepreneurial
Leader (CEO) of Foz do Brasil, was
one of the speakers. He took part in
the panel debate on Private Operators,
which also included executives from
American Water, the largest privatesector company in that field in the United
States, Saur of France, and Essbio,
Chile’s leading water utility.
“For Foz do Brasil, it was an honor
to be the only company from Brazil to
participate in an event of this magnitude.
It was an opportunity to show how
Odebrecht is structured to tackle the
challenges of finding solutions to the
issue of sustainable water use,” said
Fernando Santos-Reis.
The other panels discussed topics
such as Water and Power, Recycled
Water and Project Finance. The
conference, whose theme was
“Transforming the World of Water,” was
organized by Global Water Intelligence
(GWI) magazine and the International
Desalination Association (IDA), which
is devoted to water desalination and
recycling. The Global Water Summit is
held annually. Its sponsors include the
International Federation of Private Water
Operators (AquaFed), which Foz do Brasil
joined in 2008.
The Brazilian Navy on June 10 honored the Odebrecht Infraestrutura team
with the Medal of Naval merit, presented to Benedicto Barbosa da Silva
Junior, the company’s Entrepreneurial
Leader (CEO), and João Borba, the company’s Business Development Director.
They received the award at a ceremony
held at the Naval Academy in Rio de
Janeiro during the celebrations of the
145th anniversary of Brazil’s victory in
the Battle of Riachuelo. The medal is
given to military people and civilians
who have provided important services to
the Brazilian Navy. The Order of Naval
Merit Council proposes the recipients,
who are then approved by the President
of Brazil.
Speeches at the ceremony mentioned
the importance of the National Defense
Program, particularly the construction
of conventional and nuclear submarines
through the transfer of French technology, which will carry out a project the
Navy began more than 30 years ago. The
Odebrecht Organization is participating
in this project through two subsidiaries,
Odebrecht Infraestrutura and Odebrecht
Engenharia Industrial, which are
responsible for the construction of the
shipyard and naval base, as well as for
building the submarines in partnership
with DCNS (Direction des Constructions
Navales et Services) of France.
The Battle of Riachuelo is the most
important commemorative date on the
Navy’s calendar, as it was one of the most
significant episodes of the Triple Alliance
War, when Brazilian sailors won a crucial
victory to keep Paraguay from annexing
parts of Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay.
ODEBRECHT ARCHIVES
Tribute
from the
Brazilian Navy
Left, Sergio Foguel,
Pedro Novis, Victor
Gradin, and Emílio
Odebrecht and
(in front) Aluizio
Rebbelo de Araujo;
right, Renato Baiardi
and Luiz Almeida:
Board Members
in Porto Velho
Board of Directors visits
Santo Antônio Plant works
The Board of Directors of Odebrecht
S.A. on May 21 visited the site of the Santo
Antônio hydropower plant construction
project in the Brazilian city of Porto Velho.
According to Renato Baiardi, the most
striking thing about this project for the
group was the benefits it is providing in
that region. “It is clearly boosting local
development through the establishment
of facilities such as cement plants, as
well as professional training programs
like Acreditar,” he said.
Victor Gradin observed that the visit
symbolized “the harmony, communication
and commitment of the Odebrecht
teams that are devoted to building a
highly significant project for Brazil with
dedication and enthusiasm.” Regarding
the Ongoing Professional Education
Program (Acreditar), Victor Gradin
observed: “It is an exemplary model of
education for work and education through
work, two pillars of TEO (the Odebrecht
Entrepreneurial Technology). At a time
in our history when Brazil is reducing
unemployment, Acreditar has become
a model for educating and training new
workers so they will be able to engage
in economic activities and gain formal
employment.”
Contract signed for part
of bullet-train project
Elos – Ligações de Alta Velocidade S.A., a concession company whose partners include
Bento Pedroso Construções (BPC), and the Government of Portugal in May signed the PPP1
Concession Agreement for a section of the high-speed railway that will run between Lisbon
and Madrid. A 167-km section of the railway, PPP1 will link Poceirão, on the south bank of the
Tagus River, in the Lisbon metropolitan region, with Caia on the Spanish border.
Trains on the Lisbon-Madrid line will run at speeds of up to 350 km/hour, reducing
travel time between those cities to 2 hours and 45 minutes. The 40-year PPP1 concession
includes engineering, construction, financing and maintenance of the Poceirão-Caia HighSpeed section, the conventional railway line between Évora and Caia, for cargo, and the
new Évora station.
In addition to BPC, Elos’s partners include the Portuguese companies Brisa, Soares da
Costa, Lena, Edifer and Zagope, two banks, Caixa Geral de Depósitos and Banco Millennium
BCP, and Iridium of Spain, an ACS group company. The project will involve a total investment
of 1,650 million euros (including expropriation and interest on loans) and is slated for
completion by the end of 2013. A 1,400-euro contract to build the bullet-train, including
engineering and construction, was signed with a joint venture of BPC, Soares da Costa, Lena,
Zagope, Edifer and Dragados.
odebrecht informa
Américo Vermelho
Élvio Luiz
Mass wedding
A different sort of event spiced up
the routine of 35 people working on
the Oil Tanker Pier project in Ipojuca,
Pernambuco, on July 3. With the help
of Consórcio Pier Petroleiro, the joint
venture responsible for implementing the
project, they had the chance to officialize
their unions with their partners at a
mass wedding, complete with a marriage
ceremony and a cocktail party for 400
guests.
Held at the SESI’s headquarters in Cabo
de Santo Agostinho, Pernambuco, the
event was an initiative of the joint aventure
for the benefit of workers who lived with
their partners, but had not officialized their
marital status, in most cases because of
financial constraints. All told, the joint
venture invested about BRL 60,000 in a
buffet, clothing rentals for brides and
grooms, wedding rings and transportation
so the couples could to try on their clothes
and get to the ceremony on time.
"I’d often thought about getting married,
and sometimes saved up for it, but other
things came up and I had to spend what
I’d saved. I wanted to fulfill that dream
together with my partner, who has been
with me for 11 years,” said Klébio Gean
Lima da Silva, a water tanker truck driver.
He married Ludmila Alves da Silva, with
whom he has three children. “I think that,
as a man, I’m also setting an example for
my children.”
Odebrecht Infraestrutura is building
the Oil Tanker Pier as a joint venture with
OAS and Andrade Gutierrez. The result of
investments by the State of Pernambuco
and Petrobras, the project will be
completed by September 2010.
odebrecht informa
The Community’s meeting in Rio de Janeiro: 138 participants from 14 countries
Procurement and Logistics
Community holds first meeting
“In the process of acquiring and
disseminating knowledge, training and
activating a network of people is key,”
said Mauro Rehm, the leader of the
Odebrecht Procurement and Logistics
Knowledge Community, at their first
meeting, held on June 21 and 22 in Rio
de Janeiro. Knowledge Communities,
which since 2001 have formed the
Odebrecht Knowledge Network, are part
of the Organization’s efforts to enable
and encourage the constant exchange
and dissemination of knowledge,
lessons learned and best practices
among its teams. The meeting, which
was attended by 138 people from 14
countries and all the Organization’s
subsidiaries, included statements
from members and partners about
procurement and logistics management.
Mauro Rehm emphasized the
importance of forming the new
community and highlighted the
transversality of procurement and
logistics management at all the
Organization’s companies. "It’s an
activity that permeates all Odebrecht
businesses. Nothing is more natural
and essential than getting the people
involved in those activities at our
companies to interact synergistically,
thereby contributing to the development
of the Organization as a whole,” he
observed.
Paulo Lacerda de Melo, Vice
President of Engineering and
Construction Operations, noted that the
Procurement and Logistics Knowledge
Community is the first to bring together
representatives of all the companies
in the Organization. "This will enrich
the exchange of knowledge to meet the
requirements of Odebrecht’s growth,”
he said. All the presentations given
at the meeting are available on the
Procurement and Logistics Community’s
web page on the Odebrecht Portal:
http://portal.odebrecht.com/
Talk about
health at MIT
Américo Vermelho
Rubem Braga
Complex: quick
access to General
Osório Station
An elevator ride away
Since June 30, residents of the
Cantagalo and Pavão-Pavãozinho
communities in the South Zone of Rio de
Janeiro have been using the Rubem Braga
Complex for quick access to the Ipanema/
General Osório Metro Station. The
Governor of Rio de Janeiro, Sergio Cabral,
Mayor Eduardo Paes and Secretary of
Transportation Sebastião Rodrigues
attended the opening ceremony for the
complex, named after the late journalist
and writer Rubem Braga, who lived near
the Ipanema Metro.
Built by Odebrecht Infraestrutura, the
facility consists of a 260-m tunnel carved
through rock that connects General
Osório Station with two towers (62m and
26m in height) containing elevators that
can carry up to 100 persons per trip. Atop
the highest tower, a belvedere overlooks
the beaches of Copacabana, Ipanema
and Leblon, Dois Irmãos and Corcovado
mountains and Rodrigo de Freitas
Lagoon. The complex also includes a 640sq.m structure built next to the tunnel
entrance, where a unit of Rio Poupa
Tempo (Rio Timesaver) will be installed to
provide various public services.
This new project will benefit about
10,000 people and facilitate the urban
redevelopment of the area surrounding
the station.
Public defense and security
Odebrecht Engenharia Industrial has signed a partnership agreement with EADS
Defense & Security to operate in the public defense and security technology markets in
Brazil and other countries. The aim is to form a joint venture based in São Paulo that
will provide products, integrated systems and services for the military, government and
businesses.
According to Roberto Simões, who is responsible for the program, the goal of this
partnership is to enhance Odebrecht’s public defense and security operations. “Partnering
up with a world leader in the industry will allow us to serve our clients with full capacity to
absorb and develop advanced technologies.”
EADS Defense & Security provides system solutions for military and civilian security
worldwide. Its portfolio ranges from sensors and secure networks to missiles, aircraft
and drones, as well as security services. The company is a division of EADS (European
Aeronautic, Defense and Space Company), a group of European origin that also controls
Airbus (planes), Eurocopter (a leading global manufacturer of helicopters) and EADS
Astrium (manned and unmanned space travel systems).
Gilberto Ururahy, Odebrecht’s Medical
Coordinator in Rio de Janeiro, gave a
talk to students, teachers, scientists
and businesspersons at MIT (the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology)
in the United States in April. The subject
was "Globalization and Health in Today’s
Nomadic World.”
According to Gilberto, business
executives are modern-day nomads in the
global marketplace. Subject to the rules
of the business world, they have almost
no personal life. “They live at work and
sleep on planes,” he said. This lifestyle
encourages the development of chronic
stress. According to studies involving
50,000 executives conducted at his private
clinic, 70% experience high levels of stress.
In the long term, hormones produced by
stress (adrenaline and cortisol) lead to
chronic diseases such as diabetes and
hypertension.
In his presentation at MIT, Gilberto,
who has been with the Organization
for 34 years, discussed his study of 380
strategic Odebrecht professionals active
in the Americas, Europe, Asia and Africa,
conducted through the Individual Health
Management Program. "Everybody has an
annual check-up at the site of their choice
and sends us the test results. Throughout
the year, we visit them and present
them with a health promotion program
tailored to each individual’s cardiovascular
and metabolic profile and lifestyle. The
involvement of Entrepreneurial Leaders
(CEOs) is essential to the program’s
success,” said Gilberto. Odebrecht
executives’ stress levels are 55% below the
rate found in the overall study.
Gilberto’s talk was part of the Thirteenth
Latin American Conference at MIT. While
in Boston, he also visited Massachusetts
General Hospital, one of the finest
hospitals in the United States. According
to Gilberto, it “might provide health care
support in the United States in the future.”
odebrecht informa
48
argument
by Emílio Odebrecht
Grooming partners
and corporate sustainability
a
A growing number of Brazilian
businesses could be classified as
transnationals.
They are big, competitive and
operate globally because they have
survived – through productivity,
while ensuring liquidity and building image; grown – due to their
capacity for creativity, innovation
and renewal; and are on the path
of perpetuity, based on the creation
and reinvestment of the wealth that
comprises their tangible assets,
and their capacity to preserve their
intangibles: their core principles,
values and beliefs and the quality of
their human capital.
This trend is good for Brazil
because, aside from their leading role in this new era for our
economy, these companies also
have another important role to play
that will reap benefits for them and
their country: helping groom small
and medium-sized Brazilian businesses to enter and compete in the
global marketplace.
odebrecht informa
Our global companies are going
through a period of expansion, and
they could lead smaller businesses in the same direction as long as
their activities are complementary.
If Brazil already has “world champion” companies, it is because
they subcontract a large number
of small businesses that support
and sustain their growth in a virtuous cycle.
The idea that a big company can
or should abuse its power is archaic
– part of a dying breed of capitalism.
The continued growth of Brazilian
global businesses, wherever they
are present, is down to their ability
to disseminate knowledge, transfer
technology and share their success
with all other economic agents.
A big company that oppresses
or exploits small businesses with
an immediate, short-term outlook
does not understand that it is part
of a supply chain whose links must
never be out of balance, because if
that happens, all will be at risk.
Global companies depend on
smaller businesses for their very
existence, and vice versa, but for
small manufacturers, riding on
the coattails of larger ones is the
only way to internationalize their
operations.
For this to happen, it is key for
large businesses to view themselves as more than just sellers
of products. They must also add
value to those products by including services in all their business
relationships and sharing their
experience, innovations and best
practices with their suppliers, subcontractors and clients.
In short, large Brazilian companies
have a moral responsibility to foster the sustainable growth of small
partner companies – and it is in their
most strategic interest.
Emílio Odebrecht is Chairman
of the Board of Odebrecht S.A. This
article was originally published
in the Folha de S. Paulo newspaper.
yesterday
United States, 1990.
ODEBRECHT ARCHIVES
In 1990, Odebrecht established a presence
in the United States. The first Brazilian
company to win a public tender in that
country, it debuted on US soil by building
a section of Metromover, Miami’s people
mover. Begun in 1991, this project launched
Odebrecht’s challenging and iconic trajectory
in the world’s leading economy, including
operations in other US states and projects
such as the Seven Oaks Dam in California.
photo: américo vermelho
An e-inclusion program designed
to offer IT education to workers at Odebrecht’s construction sites, Caia na Rede
(Hit the Net) has gradually expanded to include the jobsites’ local communities. The
result of a partnership between Odebrecht, Microsoft of Brazil and Dell Computers,
Caia na Rede is becoming an important tool for delivering digital inclusion in Brazil,
where just 6% of construction workers have access to a computer.
odebrecht informa