Slow and steady wins the race.  Recently at Entergy - Hinds Energy Facility in Jackson, Mississippi, the APM Fossil South team performed a major on the plant’s D11 combined cycle steam turbine unit. This particular job has been going on since September of 2015.  Michael Hill led as APM Project Manager, and the APM Superintendents were, Ron Turner, Jr./Ronnie Cox on ST days, and Kendell Tennyson, ST Nights disassembly and Brennon Morris, ST Nights Reassembly.  Ronnie Cox was called in to relieve Ron due to the birth of his baby daughter, Lyla Turner.  One of the many challenges the teams faced included a damaged rotor that had to be repaired off site. Last week GE Field Engineer, Barry Lee, informed us that the job had been completed and thanked the team for their perseverance on this long job.

“I just wanted to let everyone (know) that this morning the Entergy Hinds steam turbine came up and tied to the grid on the first start. Vibration is at a minimum. For the first time since installation, it doesn’t roll off gear upon reset and the turning gear is working as it should. I can honestly say the plant is appreciative of the quality of all the work that was accomplished. I appreciate all the work and effort put into this long drawn out outage. It has taken a lot of outside support and patience but we have given the customer a machine in the best possible condition. Lots of obstacles were overcome and it couldn’t have been done without the support from all involved on and off site.  Again, I appreciate all the help and support from everyone involved that made this outage a success. “

Willie Falvey, the GE Contract Performance Manager for GE Power Services commented:

“I just attended Entergy Hinds monthly safety meeting.  During the meeting GE and our subcontractors were commended by the site personnel for our safety record during the recently completed outage.  It was mentioned that even with the added scope and difficulties that we experienced with the units, we were able to complete the outage without any recordables and a minimal amount of first aids and near misses, especially when you exclude the yellow jacket invasion we went through.  They’ll probably be talking about the yellow jackets for years around here.  Entergy felt that based on the results that it was obvious we had the right management team on site to handle the additional scope and difficulties.   To put this all into perspective, we were able to work a total of 76,022 man-hours (through the end of January) with only a handful of near misses and first aids.  This man-hours total does not include February so once it’s totaled up we’ll have exceeded 80,000 man-hours (for a triple major).  This is an accomplishment that the customer is appreciative of and we should definitely be proud of.  I would like to personally thank each of you for your emphasis on safety during this outage and to let you know it was definitely noticed by the customer.”

This job is a great example of the APM team’s persistence to assure our customers get the best quality possible.  Andy Mills, APM Fossil Services South Region Director, informed us that the turbine casing had significant pipe stresses requiring the piping to be cut and repositioned.  The lower half shell joint had to be machined onsite by a GE subcontractor and the upper shell had to be sent to the GE shop for repairs. This is a commendable act of ingenuity by the team. Congrats on finishing this job team, and thank you for your continued effort on every jobsite.