Fabricated construction: building with modules.

• Author: Sharpe, Margaret
• Position: SPECIAL SECTION: Building Alaska

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The fabricated construction concept is not unfamiliar to Alaska companies. Projects in the state have used modules since the late 1950s. "Most of the first constructed modular units were remnants from WWII--using the Quonset hut," says Richard Tisch, business development manager for SolstenXP. As a project management and contracting service company, SolstenXP works with modules on their infrastructure and facilities construction jobs.

"There is a certain amount of waste when you have to ship materials up here for construction, with scrap resulting from everything you fit. In essence, you've paid to ship scrap up here," says Tisch. "It is easier to have the module manufactured offsite, and you end up with a partially completed building block, like Legos; that way, you don't pay for that excess [waste] product."

Operation costs and constructions costs are high in Alaska because of weather and remote logistics. The time crunch applies to both the summer construction season and the winter ice road season. "Time is money; using prefab modules takes some of that risk out of projects for us," says Tisch. "With modules, you are off and running--it works really well in Alaska."

Marsh Creek, LLC

In answer to the winter season, Marsh Creek, LLC, which is jointly owned by Kaktovik Inupiat Corporation and SolstenXP, has their patented Artic Pac to keep equipment well insulated in arctic conditions. Developed over the years, the module is self-climatized and has been brutally tested in locations like Northern Siberia, where conditions are "as bad as it gets," says John Cameron, General Manager for Marsh Creek's Energy Systems division. The Arctic Pac is a pre-packaged generator set housed in an insulated and acclimatized portable prefabricated building.

Randy Eledge, VP of Business Development for Marsh Creek, points out the benefits of building in a controlled environment and then transporting the completed structure to the project site. "Building on the Slope, you have to considered that you're going to have to be billeted somewhere on the Slope close to the jobsite. That is very expensive. You have to have the camps, and all the catering, transportation to and from the job site," says Eledge.

Marsh Creek builds their own specialized modules, but they also use other local builders. "Most of the modules we do are steel built, not wood," says Eledge. "We have used Builders Choice for modules for an Eni project, a water and wastewater system that Eni purchased and asked us to outfit for them, but we don't do wood." Eledge points out that Marsh Creek modules are built to house the equipment, and Builders Choice modules are more often for...