Project Overview
R.E. Warner is providing design and engineering for a new cold rolling mill and offline skin pass mill at North American Stainless’ (NAS) Ghent, Kentucky plant. The scope of services includes architectural, civil, structural, HVAC, piping, fire protection, and electrical engineering.
NAS is the largest fully integrated stainless steel producer in the United States. This project is a $244 million investment to expand and improve their equipment and buildings to meet the growing demand for top-of-the-line stainless products and subsidized stainless steel importation amid national security threats. Specifically, the expansion includes a new cold rolling mill, roll grinders, and temper mill; an extensive upgrade of its annealing and pickling lines to support the new rolling mill; and an expansion of the melt shop building.
The mills require complete building design, including new overhead cranes, utilities, site development, equipment, and building foundations. To carry out this ambitious project, North American Stainless turned to REW for our proven track record in delivering complex industrial projects. Our work involves engineering services for both mills including design development and construction documents for architectural, site, civil, structural, mechanical, and electrical. We were also asked to perform construction support services.
The project is being completed in phases. The first phase involved the design and construction of the shoring concept, deep and building foundations. The REW team worked closely with the NAS team to ensure the design meets their requirements and is compliant with local regulations. We will also provide support during construction to ensure the work is carried out safely and efficiently.
In the second phase, REW focused on mill building design. Our design objectives were to ensure that the building could accommodate the new mills, overhead cranes, and other equipment while providing employees with a safe and comfortable working environment. The REW team used advanced computer modeling and simulation tools to optimize the design and reduce the risk of errors. This phase also included design of the auxiliary buildings and equipment, including cooling towers, mechanical and utility piping systems, electrical building utilities, and sub-system interconnections.
When complete, this project will allow NAS to offer a full range of stainless flat and long products with competitive delivery times, including slabs, billets, plate, sheet, and strip, as well as long products including wire, rods, angles and rebar.