Article Image Alt Text

Marty Goutierrez (right) talks with Luke Abbott about the AC units of the one of the living quarters.

Article Image Alt Text

The laundry room in the living quarters.

Article Image Alt Text

One modular sleeps 12 people.

Vermilion Parish company builds living quarters headed to Russia on Friday

For the last 1 1/2 years, LQT Industries has been building one of the first certified Russian temporary living quarters ever built in Louisiana.
On Friday, it will begin leaving the yard en route for Russia, which is expected to take another month or two to get there. Once the buildings arrive, LQT will send eight technicians to help put it together.
When the 10 living quarter modulars, made out of aluminum, are loaded onto 30-plus 18-wheelers bound for Houston, then loaded onto a ship en route for Russia, it will be a happy ending for a team of 50 men and women, many from Vermilion Parish, who built them.
The purpose of the modulars is to house workers working on a deep-sea drilling rig. They have sleeping quarters, bathrooms, a laundry room and a game room.
The laborers needed to make it possible consisted of welders, carpenters, electricians, AC technicians, fire and gas technicians and plumbers.
Marty Goutierrez, who is the new construction manager for LQT, oversaw the project from day one.
“This is the biggest project LQT has built in Vermilion Parish,” said Goutierrez.
Goutierrez said building the all aluminum structures was the easy part because of the quality labor in Vermilion Parish.
The hardest part of the entire project was finding material that was “Russian” certified. LQT could not just drive down the road and purchase material from the local hardware store. Before they began to even weld their first aluminum plate together, a special team was created to locate “Russian” certified material. They searched the internet for things like toilet seats, screws, sheets, lights, floor, curtains and wire all had to be “Russian” certified. One of the hardest “Russian” certified items to locate was wiring. Goutierrez said the wiring came from Switzerland.
Finding the parts and getting it approved by the Russian government took just over a year.
LQT was able to get the job to build the large living quarters because it they said they could build it out of aluminum instead of the traditional steel structure.
Aluminum modulers are lighter than steel modulers, which makes it attractive to have on a floating drilling structure, Goutierrez said.
LQT was able to build an aluminum living quarter and meet U.S. Coast Guard and ABS requirements thanks to a new type of insulation that was placed in the walls of the living quarters that meets fire standards. The new type of insulation, is certified to hold off a fire for an hour.
“This type of aluminum structure could not have been built years ago because of this new type of insulation,” he said. “It’s all about the insulation.”
LQT has a patent pending on the aluminum modular and hopes to corner the national market with its aluminum structure. They have a handful going to Alaska, as well.
“This was a great project for us and the people of Vermilion Parish,” he added.

PLEASE LOG IN FOR PREMIUM CONTENT

Our website requires visitors to log in to view the best local news from Vermilion Parish. Not yet a subscriber? Subscribe today!

Follow Us

Site Links

Subscriber Links