construction, Project Management, and Cost Engineering

Challenge: A major engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) firm faced extensive design changes while building a state-of-the-art nitrocellulose munitions manufacturing facility for the Department of Defense (DoD), leading to significant project delays and approximately $180 million in disputed costs.

Solution: EPS conducted a comprehensive technical review of the multi-year project's design elements, including process, mechanical, electrical, structural, civil, and safety systems, and performed a detailed cost engineering analysis. Through this extensive evaluation, EPS identified significant latent design defects and project management errors and then quantified the resulting scope changes.

Result: EPS's thorough analysis of the engineering design and project management supported effective dispute resolution, enabling the construction firm to present a strong defense in a contractual disagreement over project delays and cost escalation.

Challenge: A global energy firm faced significant discrepancies in the valuation of their first-of-a-kind IsoAlky Retrofit Project by a taxing authority, which did not account for atypical costs associated with the pioneering energy technology.

Solution: EPS conducted a detailed technical assessment and financial appraisal of the first-of-a-kind technology, distinguishing typical from atypical expenses in the $560 million construction, and applied fair market value principles to establish the correct valuation.

Result: EPS’s analysis demonstrated the proper taxable value of the construction work in progress (CWIP), significantly reducing the client's ad valorem assessment by correcting the inflated valuation initially set by the taxing authority.

Challenge: A renewable municipal waste-to-energy technology and equipment provider faced allegations of design defects, including faulty equipment, poor operational controls, unwanted byproducts, and inconsistent environmental emissions.

Solution: EPS conducted a detailed engineering analysis of the technology and equipment to determine and confirm its superior performance while identifying severe issues with the owner’s equipment, processing out-of-specification waste materials, poor water treatment, and unreliable environmental controls.

Result: EPS determined the root causes of the owner’s operational issues, enabling effective operational changes and eliminating alleged rectification works and damages, thereby saving substantial costs for the technology provider and facility owner.

Challenge: A major oil refinery experienced a catastrophic explosion in Superior, Wisconsin, resulting in extensive property damage, injuries to over 70 workers, and the evacuation of 27,000 residents due to a release of hazardous chemicals into the community.

Solution: EPS conducted an insightful forensic investigation accurately, determining the root causes of the equipment failures, operational procedures, safety procedure failures, generation of blast waves, and the release of hazardous chemicals.

Result: EPS's investigation and testimony provided prevailing testimony for four lawsuits, including a class action for the community and three workplace injury lawsuits for contract workers.

Challenge: A renewable energy biomass cogeneration plant experienced operational deficiencies, including multiple fires, leading to disputes over the provided technology’s design and performance.

Solution: EPS conducted a forensic investigation, assessed the materials handling and quality, and evaluated the technology’s energy-generating performance.

Result: EPS’s forensic analysis established the absence of design deficiencies, demonstrated the contractual compliance of the technology, and identified the owner’s operational inefficiencies, thereby dismissing the litigation.

Challenge: A devastating explosion at a farm silo resulted in significant structural damage and loss of life, with renewable ethanol and fermentation-related causes suspected. However, critical production data and laboratory samples were not preserved by the owner, complicating the investigation.

Solution: EPS engineers performed forensic analyses, including debris mapping, blast force calculations, and process evaluations, to identify the origin and cause of the explosion. EPS’s investigation confirmed the presence of ethanol that had been improperly handled during the biofuel production supply chain.

Result: The investigation determined biofuel manufacturing operational missteps, key safety protocol violations, and destruction of data, resulting in a pre-trial award for the deceased’s family.