Solutia

About this Project

Solutia UK were in search of a manufacturer to supply and install structural steelwork and process pipework for a Therminol Expansion project, at its plant based on Newport, South Wales. Tema Group won the bid with their ingenious ‘modular build strategy’.

The modular build approach allowed the vast majority of the pipe and steelwork to be built and assembled off site, at Tema’s Cardiff premises. 12km of process pipework, as well as construction of the 600 ton structural element of the steel rack were built off site at Tema Group head quarters. Even the heat tracing and insulation were installed in the Tema assembly yard. This innovative method brought a number of cost reducing and quality enhancement advantages to the project. The installation period was reduced from an estimated four weeks down to only two, which had a significant impact on reducing site costs. The level of quality and control of the entire manufacture was heightened by building off site under controlled conditions. The project benefitted from further cost savings as the need for working at height, and the subsequent risk to health and safety, was minimized using the ‘modular build strategy’.