Motorists traveling along Highway 90 last week noticed a strange site in the parking lot of Pier 90 where a number of very large metal modular units were being stored.
The pieces belong to Dyno Nobel, who is currently constructing an $850 million ammonia plant on the 800-acre campus of Cornerstone Chemical Company that is situated on the West Bank near the St. Charles and Jefferson Parish line.
The modular units were a part of a steam reformer that was manufactured in Spain.
“The pieces over at Pier 90 are being shipped in by barge. They are coming in by ship first and then being barged in,” Chris Morgan, Dyno Nobel plant manager, said. “They are components of the ammonia plant themselves.”
The pieces made their way across the Atlantic Ocean to southeast Louisiana before being transferred to barges and brought up Lake Cataouatche and Bayou Verret to Pier 90.Morgan said for the U.S. portion of the journey, the company had to bring in contractors for assistance.
“KBR (Kellogg Brown & Root) is staging them. They are managing up the details and getting them there from the site,” he said. “They are using local agencies to transport them.”
The modular units are to be assembled onsite and will make up some of the most critical portions of the plant that is anticipated to be completed by late 2016.
The construction of the Dyno Nobel ammonia plant at Cornerstone Chemical Company is the latest addition to the campus.
Paul Mikesell, chief operating officer at Cornerstone Chemical Company, said Dyno Nobel joins other companies who have already built on the campus.
“They will be third tenant here,” he said.
Cornerstone is investing $175 million in infrastructure upgrades to make the construction possible.
The construction of the plant was first announced by Gov. Bobby Jindal’s office in April 2013. Jindal said the Dyno Nobel plant will create 65 new direct jobs and result in 477 new indirect jobs and 750 construction jobs.
The state provided an incentives package to Dyno Nobel for up to a 6 percent cash rebate on annual payrolls for a decade. Cornerstone Chemical will receive a $3 million tax credit over the next three years due to the plant’s construction efforts.
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