SNC-Lavalin and Hatch win PMI's 2014 Project of the Year Award for Rio Tinto Alcan's AP60 Project

PHOENIX, AZ, Oct. 27, 2014 /CNW/ - Rio Tinto Alcan (RTA), SNC-Lavalin, and Hatch received the coveted Project of the Year award at last night's Project Management Institute (PMI) Professional Awards Gala. The PMI Professional Awards honor organizations and individuals whose passion, talent and expertise make the greatest contributions to the project management profession.

And this team had plenty of passion. In fact, the motto "rigor, courage, passion" was adopted to drive the team's commitment to meeting the project goals and exceeding RTA's expectations for health, safety, and the environment (HSE).

AP60 Phase 1 is a new aluminum plant located in Jonquiere, Quebec (464 km northeast of Montreal). The plant was designed to test RTA's proprietary AP60 smelting technology at an industrial scale. The project is the first-of-its-kind in the world and the first step in RTA's planned investment program in Quebec's Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean region.

RTA's goal was clear from the start—to safely deliver an industrial plant to demonstrate AP60 technology with minimal capital expenditure and a realistic schedule. The CAN$1.3 billion project was completed within the budget and one month ahead of schedule. It also set a world-class standard for HSE that was implemented as the benchmark by RTA and the construction industry in Quebec, which had suffered from extremely high lost time injury frequency rates (LTIFR). The project finished with an injury rate 99 percent lower than the local average.

"Building an aluminum plant to operate the most advanced technology in the world was an enormous, and exciting, challenge," said Hatch's André Noël, AP60 Project Manager. "In the midst of the global financial crisis, the team was challenged with the task of reducing the project costs to an acceptable level without impacting net present value. An exhaustive value-improvement exercise resulted in savings of about $280 million in capital expenditure without compromising operating costs."

"We set a new standard for health and safety performance in the Quebec construction industry with the AP60 project," said Marc O'Connor, Vice-President Projects, North America, Mining and Metallurgy, SNC-Lavalin. "Many of the health and safety programs, procedures and tools developed as part of this project, are the precursors to tools being used on projects today."

"Project management—it's all about how good you are at detailing a plan, presenting a plan, executing the plan, and delivering the result. And that's what they did so well. They were the best," said Michel Charron, Project Director, Rio Tinto Alcan.

The project was executed under an engineering, procurement and construction management (EPCM) contracting model, which was led by a joint venture between SNC-Lavalin and Hatch.

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Rio Tinto Alcan (RTA) is the global leader in the aluminum business. One of the world's largest producers of bauxite, alumina and aluminum, its leadership is reinforced by: extensive project pipeline, benchmark smelting technology, and enviable hydropower position. Sustainable development principles guide the firm's actions and decisions. Health, safety and environmental excellence are top priorities. RTA is one of five product groups operated by Rio Tinto, a leading international mining group.

Hatch is an employee-owned, multidisciplinary professional services firm that delivers a comprehensive array of technical and strategic services, including consulting, information technology, engineering, process development, and project and construction management to the Mining, Metallurgical, Energy, and Infrastructure sectors. Hatch has served clients for over six decades with corporate roots extending over 100 years and has project experience in more than 150 countries around the world. With over 11,000 professionals in over 65 offices, the firm has more than $35 billion in projects currently under management.

Founded in 1911, SNC-Lavalin is one of the leading engineering and construction groups in the world and a major player in the ownership of infrastructure. From offices in over 50 countries, SNC-Lavalin's approximately 45,000 employees provide EPC and EPCM services to clients in a variety of industry sectors, including mining and metallurgy, oil and gas, environment and water, infrastructure and power. SNC-Lavalin can also combine these services with its financing and operations and maintenance capabilities to provide complete end-to-end project solutions.

SOURCE: HATCH

Gabrielle Lamirande-Gauvin, Communication and Marketing Lead / Eastern North America, Hatch Ltd., Tel: [phone], [email protected], www.hatch.ca; Alexis Fung Fook, Communications Manager, SNC-Lavalin, Tel [phone], ext. 52379, [email protected]; Claudine Gagnon, Principal advisor, Media relations, Rio Tinto Alcan, Tel [phone], [email protected]