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n early 2006, it became apparent that the attempt to

extend the life of the 1,500 MW coal fired Mohave

Generating Station (MGS) would not be successful

(SRP's 20"/" porrion of MGS equaled 300MW's)' SRP

then had to scramble to add new coal fired power generatlon

to replace that lost by Mohave's closing. The option selected

was to construct Unit 4 at the Tucson Electric Power (TEP)

plant site outside Springerville, Arizona. Unit 4 had received

all the necessary permits when both Units 3 and 4 were

permitted. Tri-State's Unit 3 was nearing completion.

SRP's Board approved moving forward with the

Sprir-rgervi l le 4 project on May L, 2006. The 400MW

subcrit ical plant would be essential ly identical to Unit 3, with

the addition of various modifications intended to improve

plant operability and reduce maintenance costs. Unit 4

wor-rld also have the benefit of "lessons learned" from the

construction and init ial operation of Unit 3. Unit 4 would be

owned by SRP and operated by TEP.Detail Engineering commenced immediately as studies

and prel iminary engineering were unnecessary due to the

repl icat ion of Unit 3. The boi ler, steam turbine, generator

and air quality control system were awarded to the same

suppliers who had provided the Unit 3 equipment. The

project schedule was 44 months from start to commercial

operation. (A typical coal plant schedule is 60 months or

more.) The prolect had to be completed and placed into

commercial operation by the end of 2009. This was dictated

by the expirat ion of the Air Permit on December 3L, 2009.

Fortunateln SRP had an in-house team of experienced

project management professionals who had recently

constructed 1,L00 MW's of gas f ired, combined cycle

power generation. Little did they know that Springerville 4

was headed into the "perfect storm" in terms of material,

equipment and construction labor cost escalat ion coupled

with a scarcity of qualified suppliers and contractors. The

,'r"/t-.' ;ri{b }'s

project would ult imately cost one bi l l ion dol lars.

Because of the short schedule, i t was determined that the

substructures (concrete and underground) work would need

to be awarded on unit prices based on prel iminary quanti t ies.

The award was made at approximately 507" completion of

the substructures engineering. This, in turn, led to extensive

revisions in constnction drawings. Drawing revisions of 15 to

20 became commonplace. In fact, there were instances where

concrete pours were actual ly halted due to the last minute

receipt of a revised drawing. This was further exacerbated by

the very late receipt of vendor drawings. The vendors were

overloaded and had no abi l i ty to staff-up with experienced

people to handle their 2006 -2007 workloads' Along with

other new power plants, SRP would also be competing for

resources with many "back-end" emissions controls proiects

mandated by the EPA.Structural steel erection needed to commence within

a year of the project 's notice to proceed. This was another

chal lenge as China was locking up worldwide steel production.

SRP immediately went to a trusted steel supplier they had

used on previous proiects. They told the steel supplier to get

started and the paperwork would follow. The steel supplier

turned down much larger proiects just two weeks after SRP

contracted with them because they had reached their capacity

limit. In fact, they had to use their alliance agreements with

other steel suppliers to ensure timely delivery of SRP's steel.

The steel was fast-tracked through mill rr-rns, fabrication

drawings, shop fabrication and jobsite delivery. However,

it still became necessary to issue a cost-plus contract to an

industry renowned steel erector who did exceptionally well

under very difficult circumstances; performing any necessary

modifications to the steel in the field as drawing revisions

continued up to the last minute.Next, a boiler erector needed to be selected. Unfortunatel5

there were no takers. Everyone was busy on other projects.

Specialized Transmission LineServices:

. LiDAR Acquisition and MappingServices with Towill's Leading-

Edge Technology 200 KlIz LiDAR

System

. Re-rating and Re-conductoring

Surveys

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Construction

. High Dehnition Digital Video

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Control

. Cadastral Swveys for Rigfrts of Way

There's more at MerrickMerrick's client-focused project delivery teams have served the energy industry since thefirm's founding in 1955. At the core of our services is an understanding of your business,operations, industry, and marketplace conditions. That understanding is combined with theexpertise of the firm's talented professionals to deliver vital solutions that work.

When you're looking for more, cal l Merrick.

Contact: Chris Biondolilo, PE - Project Manager2450 South Peoria StreetAurora, C0 80014-5475303-353-3876

Dls t r ibu led Genera t ion

Renewab le Energy

Biomass Ut r laza t ion

Control and Data Acquisit ion

MERRICK"E conApEFiV

Employee 0wned

TOWI LL | :,1,1'sl{'B; $l,r,t'n

303.974.7270 ext. 401J ohn. Bloodgood@towill. com

www.towill.com