Contractors told big projects on the horizon

Published 5:46 pm Wednesday, January 10, 2018

Travis Woods, general manager of T&L Solutions, LLC, said contractors need to have their radar on for 360 degrees when chasing upcoming industrial projects and to not let smaller projects slip past.

Woods made the comments at the Contractor Business Group meeting Wednesday morning at the Carl Parker Center at Lamar State College-Port Arthur. The Greater Port Arthur Chamber of Commerce sponsored the event.

Woods gave a rundown on $220 billion in proposed funding for regional industrial projects from Houston to southwestern Louisiana.

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Those projects included:

  • Venture Global LNG in southwestern Louisiana that signed with Zachry Construction Co. to build a large portion of their LNG exporting facility project. They are now asking for budget bids.
  • Fluor Corp./Stork took over the Huntsman plants, such as the one in Port Neches, last fall. Stork is the maintenance division for Fluor. While Fluor is in Sugarland, Fluor Federal is headquartered in Metarie, Lousiana.
  • Fluor Federal will do some upgrade work on facilities in Hackberry, Louisiana and in Winnie at the Big Hill Strategic Petroleum Reserve.
  • Twin Eagle Sand Logistics in Big Spring is building a 530-acre rail system for loading and unloading.
  • Ineos Corp. at Chocolate Bayou in Brazoria County, has several billions of dollars to spend on expansions. Woods said he will keep the contractors posted.
  • Orion Marine Group will be doing some construction work at the Port of Lake Charles.
  • Golden Pass LNG, in Sabine Pass, will have a start date in the fall for their $11 billion project.
  • Likewise, Sempra in Cameron, Louisiana, is a $10 billion project that will be known as Port Arthur LNG. It has a similar timeline.

“This is a real good hotspot,” Woods said. “We’re talking about all of the money that will be spent in two cotton-picking years.”

Larry Kelley, Port of Port Arthur director, said the port officials will open bids on Jan. 17 for the Berth 5 construction project and the 600-foot Berth 6 expansion project. Kelley said the port has had an increase in military cargo. The expansion will also accommodate larger vessels.

Voters approved the $89.95 million bond for the Berth 5 and 6 projects in an election in May 2016 to upgrade facilities.