Boise Cascade Pulp and Paper Mill Expansion

Historic Project: Groundbreaking Work From Earlier in Fluor’s History

Client: Boise Cascade

Location: Rumford, ME, U.S.

Business Segment: Urban Solutions

Industry: Manufacturing

Map showing the location of Boise Cascade Pulp and Paper Mill Expansion

Executive Summary

Fluor constructed a $260 million addition to Boise Cascade's Rumford Mill in a remote part of Maine. The plant expansion was designed to increase production by 416 tons per day. The construction required the installation of a lightweight paper machine, pulping facility and pulp slushing area, and a recovery boiler.

After a 24-month construction program, we completed the expansion one month ahead of schedule and under budget.

Client's Challenge

Working in a sparsely populated area made it difficult to hire almost 2,000 skilled craft workers to construct Boise Cascade's capital expansion project. Climate and site conditions also presented ongoing logistics challenges to maintain schedule and quality commitments.

Fluor's Solution

We provided the construction and installation for a 1,000-ton-per-day black liquor recovery boiler, a 416-ton-per-day lightweight-coated paper machine, a 250-ton-per-day purchased-pulp slushing area and a 140-ton-per-day thermomechanical pulping facility. Staffing the project with sufficient numbers of qualified personnel was a significant factor in the project's successful completion. To ensure the project had the necessary skilled craft workers, we used our extensive network to employ more than 1,800 craft personnel at the peak.

This was the largest open shop project ever undertaken in Maine at the time. We developed specialized training programs for skill augmentation. More than 1,600 individuals received this training in supervisory skills, craft disciplines and safety.