NEW RELEASE July 17, 2019

PayneCrest Honored for Two Projects in the AGC Keystone Awards

ST. LOUIS – Some intense detective work and intense planning earned PayneCrest Electric, Inc. honors in the 2019 AGC Keystone Awards. The firm’s work on the Ameren Labadie Fly Ash project and the Monsanto/Bayer Greenhouses project are being saluted as finalists in the prestigious construction awards program. It is the 29th time PayneCrest has earned accolades in the AGC Keystone Award competition, including 10 AGC Keystone Award winners.

PayneCrest’s Ameren Labadie Fly Ash project was selected as a finalist in the industrial project category for subcontractors. It tasked PayneCrest’s design/build skills to help develop a reliable solution to treat and dispose of fly ash, a byproduct of coal combustion, to comply with new EPA regulations. PayneCrest’s considerable detective work identified and modified the plant’s more than 40-year-old infrastructure, much of it unknown, to integrate it with 21st century electrical infrastructure. Creating and integrating the two fly ash-processing silos entailed proficiently engineering and installing electrical infrastructure comprised of 71,000 feet of wiring, 12,000 feet of conduit and 900 terminations – all without disrupting power plant operations during 16-month construction schedule. In delivering on all expectations, PayneCrest skillfully optimized worker productivity and safety on the site, including intense work swarming with other trades in the limited spaces of the silos.

In the Monsanto/Bayer Greenhouses project, PayneCrest overcame extraordinary complexities in remodeling 26 greenhouses as Monsanto transitioned to new ownership under Bayer. Each greenhouse was an individual research lab, requiring specialized infrastructure that would support and not compromise the integrity of research. With extremely limited space and a mandate to avoid shading plants with electrical infrastructure, PayneCrest created, tested and refined mock ups to guide pre-fabrication and installation with extraordinary precision, delivering on all expectations. The robust infrastructure for these tiny research labs included 45,000 feet of conduit, 510,000 feet of wire and cable, 9,900 terminations, 128 power/control panels, 78 fan controls, 2,970 receptacles and 1,976 plant grow lights with provisions for an additional 520 grow lights. In all, PayneCrest’s forethought trimmed 8% on the budget and 30% on the schedule. It safely managed more than 21,000 manhours of work, much of it in confined and crowded spaces, without a recordable injury.

“Each year, as innovation and technology continue to transform the construction industry, the judging of submissions and selection of finalists becomes more demanding. The challenges presented to our contractors and their ability to successfully meet them is the essence of the Keystone Awards,” said Len Toenjes, AGCMO president. “The ingenuity and craftsmanship represented by this year’s finalists continue to exemplify the spirit of the Keystone Awards.”

Winners of the 2019 Keystone Awards will be announced and celebrated at the AGC’s Construction Awards Gala scheduled for Monday, Nov. 4 at the River City Casino & Hotel in St. Louis.

For more information, visit www.agcmo.org.

Founded in 1954, PayneCrest specializes in solution-oriented industrial, commercial and telecom electrical contracting services for a local, regional and national clientele. Clients span healthcare, technology, biotech, energy, industrial, institutional and commercial industries. Find out more at www.paynecrest.com (http://www.paynecrest.com/) .