Lehigh Cement awarded a critical outage project to JGM for the repair and replacement of large duct work atop of the Kiln Gas Conditioning tower. The new duct work system was designed to alleviate expansion and contraction issues that were causing structural failure, over time, to the existing tower.
The challenge was the work had to be completed within a 21-day outage. This scope of work included the fabrication & installation of a new 34’ diameter cone shaped duct section, 2 new access platforms with stairs and 2 new expansion joints. JGM developed a step-by-step engineered lifting plan to remove & replace the 58,000 lb. gooseneck duct work. We utilized a 550-ton hydraulic crane with a 200-ton hydraulic assist crane. Once the gooseneck duct work was lowered to the ground, we worked with the engineering team to make repairs and modifications as needed. Once the existing cone shaped duct work was removed, JGM provided a 100’ tall multi-level access scaffold to the interior of the 34’ diameter gas conditioning tower vessel.
Upon final inspection of the vessel, it was recommended that we weld 40 new 3/8” thick rolled steel plates to reinforce the vessel’s shell wall. This increased scope required 10 additional welders to work around the clock to meet the outage deadline. Once the vessel was fully repaired, we set the new cone in place with the new access platforms. Our last pick was the most critical. As part of the new design, we added another 20’ long duct section to the existing gooseneck duct work. This increased the weight to 78,000 lbs. After final surveys on the ground and in the air, we made the critical pick. Everything fit like a glove! Mission accomplished. This outage was a complete success, completed on time and with zero lost time incidents.
