Engineering Inc. - September/October 2006 - 13

Project: Nissan North america Plant Firm: mendrop-Wages, LLC, Ridgeland,
miss. F or two and a half years, beginning in 2001, Chad Wages, co-founder
and principal at Mendrop-Wages, LLC, says he felt like he had a cell phone
surgically attached to his ear. As the engineering man- ager overseeing
the construc- tion of state-funded highway interchanges, water systems and
other infrastructure surround- A rendering of the planned Reed ing a new
Nissan auto plant, Hycalog plant, which is scheduled he spent more than 40
hours for completion in July 2007. each month on his cell phone Project:
Reed far met its schedule goals and Chad Wages Don Richards already has
city permits for site hycalog Facility clearance and for installation of
Firm: Carter & the sub-floor foundations. The burgess, inc., firm also has
set up processes to houston keep it all on track, including m o r e than
once last a schedule of five or six docu- summer, Don Rich- ment releases
that will allow for a r d s , vice president permits to be in hand before
at Houston-based Carter & engineers actually need them. Burgess, found his
head spin- And Carter & Burgess is build- ning as he tried to keep track
ing in extra time for the client of details related to the design to
gather specific data the firm of a new building that will con- will need
to complete various solidate six manufacturing sites stages. from around
the world into ing to glean information from Richards says it's all about
answering questions and resolv- one location 55 miles north of in order to
get a base plan getting [the client] to focus in ing problems. The state
kid- Houston for international drill right, says Richards. I hadn't short
bursts of energy on the ded me about my phone bills, bit manufacturer
ReedHycalog. even drawn a thing yet, but I information I will really need
Wages recalls. They asked, One day it was a conference had to get the data
down on in four weeks. That way you `What are you doing on the call with
plant managers in paper right to even start the focus them on a pattern
that phone so much?' I said, `I'm London who were rattling off design.
That was a challenge. matches what your releases are running the project.'
chill water flow requirements in Making his job even harder going to be. T
h e project in question centigrade and liters per min- was ReedHycalog's
deadline Richards says it doesn't hurt was transforming 1,400 acres ute.
Another day it was trying of July 1, 2007. That meant that ReedHycalog is
an edu- of farmland outside Jackson, to make heads or tails out of Carter
& Burgess would have cated client and the employees Miss., into a
3.5-million-square- installation drawings sent from 18 months to do the
job he works with there understand foot auto assembly plant for the
Singapore. Then it was talks instead of more than two years, his firm's
goals. Japanese automaker, which was with plant managers in Provo, which
is typical for such an It is rewarding when you sinking $1.4 billion into
the Utah, to make sure all the nec- assignment. explain to them why we're
project. essary equipment would be in But Richards and his col- doing
something and they The plant wouldn't be of place to handle the
installation leagues aren't complaining. We understand immediately, he
much use if there weren't roads, of their presses. do this all the time,
says senior says. This way you can move water lines and other critical A t
times, there were six project manager John Richard ahead quickly and you
don't infrastructure to support it. The plant managers and multiple
Thoreen. This is fun. need a third-party intermediary state committed
nearly $300 more operators that I was try- C a r t e r & Burgess has so to
translate what you just said. million to design and build the 13 SEPTEMBER
SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2006 ENGINEERING INC.
Engineering Inc. - September/October 2006

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