Burrow Global Montana

Valtex erected a 100’ x 140’ x 27’ PEMB with 5 walks doors, 4 exhaust vents, and 4 louvers, snow guards. We erected the columns with high winds and welded them to the helical piles.  Each column had to be braced with zee girts and straps to survive the night winds of 35+ mph.  Valtex maintained a calm/safe work environment to complete the project in 9 weeks working 13-day schedule to ensure Oneok met its operation live date.

When we first arrive on the jobsite the temperature was -8 degrees with the wind chill and started erecting the columns  which was designed to be installed by a fillet weld all around with a filler for all holes, but the snow and the temperature made it difficult so we had to build a hooch surrounding the metal columns while heating the metal for an hour before welding.

We could not store any water or fuel onsite due to sub zero temperatures and the nearest location to fuel up as 45 minutes away.  The commute to the jobsite was approximately 2 hours on dirt roads with deer and cattle always on the road causing delays.  Valtex built temporary protecting structures over new equipment that was installed so they will not be damaged during construction. When the snow thawed it turned the subgrade against us causing huge chunks of mud and we could not switch to rubber boots due to the lack of insulation and safety.  Valtex had to paint the doors and other structure members inside a connex with heaters. 

Another “out of the box” idea was how to keep the caulking warm during the freezing temperatures and how we apply it.  We invented a insulator foam to surround the caulking guns and stored them in a thermal cooler to keep the temperature adequate for application.