Underground Construction - January 2018 - 22

CONVENTION PREVIEW

PLCA Members Experience
Construction Rebound

The year 2017 was one of the
busiest on record for the Pipe
Line Contractors Association
(PLCA), said association President
Robert Osborn.
"In an industry where workloads run on ups and downs,"
Osborn said, "2017 was an upturn.
The increase of work from 2016
to 2017 was 45 percent, quite
dramatic in terms of managing
growth.
"For our members, 2017 consisted of major transmission,
maintenance, integrity, replacements and facilities projects. Some
of this was the result of projects
slated to start in 2016 that were
pushed to 2017 due to the permitting process and logistical issues
at FERC."
Osborn said when the new administration in Washington took
over in January 2017, the industry saw things happen on Capitol
Hill that allowed owner companies to get long-awaited projects
launched.
"The new administration," he
continued, "recognized the importance of building up our infrastructure to create energy independence by using cleaner-burning
sources like natural gas to supply
our power plants. They understood
we needed to transport oil to our
refineries to meet the nation's

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demand. They
also recognized
that our current infrastructure was aging
and needed to
be replaced, so
that all Americans may
Osborn
continue living
the lifestyles that pipelines and the
pipeline industry have provided us
over the years."
In February of 2017, the PLCA
and its partners - United Association of Plumbers and Pipefitters,
International Union of Operating
Engineers, International Labors
Organization and the Brotherhood
of Teamsters - negotiated a threeyear labor agreement.
"This was critical to both the
PLCA and organized labor," Osborn said. "Part of the negotiations were focused on the aging
workforce and how to ensure that
we had a plan in place to replace
the retirees with qualified new
members.
"All four unions stepped up to
the plate and started to enhance
their current training programs,
and the PLCA and union members
made financial commitments to
their training centers. It's now our
job as members of the PLCA and
managers of the unions to see this
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through and develop the next generation of talent to build America's
infrastructure."

Future looks bright
Looking ahead, Osborn believes
2018 looks to be much like 2017.
"Projects scheduled to be built
in 2016 and 2017 are finally receiving the necessary approvals to
start construction," he said. "PLCA
contractors haven't seen workloads like this since the late 1960s
when America's infrastructure was
built out.
"Think about where America
was 50 years ago versus today,
and the population in the '60s
compared to today, and think
about the energy needs of every
family and how the demand for
natural gas, oil, refined products,
and other by-products of oil have
increased."
Osborn said in the '70s the
country depended on the Middle
East, South America and other
countries to meet our increased
demands.
"Remember the mid-'70s when
we thought we were running out
of oil because of our relationships in the Middle East? We were
struggling, and compromised our
integrity to be able to maintain
relationships so that we could
keep up with our own demand.

For those who remember this time,
the thought of running out of fuel
was a chilling reality. We didn't know
how the farmers were going to raise
the volume of crops needed to feed
the growing population. We didn't
know how we were going to heat
our homes, schools and businesses.
As children growing up in Minnesota during those times, we were
forced to go to school only four days
a week and keep the thermostat at
60 degrees.
"Thankfully, those days are gone.
Today we have the ability to put
measures in place to protect Americans, yet we still battle with portions
of the general public that don't see
the current demand on our infrastructure. There are alternative energy sources, all of which the gas and
oil industry endorse, but the bottom
line is they can't meet the demand.
We should continue to build and
pursue these alternatives - and we
will - but we have a responsibility to
provide energy to all Americans in a
reliable and economical way.

Recognition
"Owners of gas and oil companies
don't get the recognition they deserve when it comes to all the money
and resources they put forward to
protect the environment, including
their investments in safety and quality assurance. The push-back against
their efforts to keep up with demand
has driven costs up substantially. At
the end of the day, this affects every
single consumer. Having said that,
I hope people see the importance of
building new infrastructure and replacing the old."
As an industry, Osborn concluded,
all involved need to step up and be
proactive to support the gas and oil

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Underground Construction - January 2018

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