Massive Fab Plant Takes Shape in Chandler

by Tony Illia

A rare heavy-lift crane provided the necessary muscle to hoist 100-ton steel roof trusses in record time at Intel Corp.'s new $3 billion, 1 million sq.-ft. wafer chip manufacturing facility in Chandler, Ariz. Subcontractor Maxim Crane Works, Pittsburgh, Pa., brought in a 1,300-ton Gottwald RG912-GT crawler crane capable of performing 320-ft. lifts. Only two cranes of its kind have ever been made at a cost of about $9.5 million.

"It's a nice chunk of change," says Charlie Giovanni, Maxim project manager.

Maxim shipped the crane, owned by Netherlands-based Mammoet, to the 131-acre Intel jobsite near Price and Dobson roads from another project in Venezuela. The three-week delivery time required four rail cars and 100 truck trips. Assembly and set-up took another five days. The crane was fitted with a heavy-lift tray holding 441 tons of counterweight in addition to 227 tons of counterweight on the main superstructure. Riggers picked the 128-ft. long, 24-ft. wide and 12-ft. deep trusses with a custom-made spreader bar and four choker slings that attach to lifting eyes on each truss. The crane is reeved with a four-part line of 1-7/8-in. dia. wire rope and a "sister" hook.

Maxim lifted three trusses per day from March 16th to the 30th, saving 35 days over a traditional erection approach. With over 60 percent of the truss assembly occurring on the ground it reduced overhead work and safety liabilities, says Bob Effle, program superintendent with Hoffman Corp., Portland, Ore., the project's construction manager at-risk.

The 60-ft. tall building is a combination of steel-frame and concrete pre-cast tilt-wall construction with a glass, masonry, and metal panel skin. The 1 million-sq.-ft. structure is supported by over 800 concrete columns, with shear walls and structural steel brace frames. The eight-level building, two of which are below grade, will see 3,500 construction trades at the peak of activity. The project, which broke ground in August 2005, is presently on time and scheduled to finish in December, Effle says. The factory, designated "Fab 32," will become Santa Clara, Calif.-based Intel's sixth 300-mm wafer facility. It's expected to create up to 1,000 new jobs and a $2.6-billion annual economic impact.

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"This investment positions our manufacturing network for future growth to support our platform initiatives and will give us additional supply flexibility across a range of products," said Paul Otellini, Intel CEO, in a written statement. "For Intel, manufacturing is a key competitive advantage that serves as the underpinning for our business and allows us to provide customers with leading-edge products in high volume."

Manufacturing 300-mm semiconductors reduces production costs by increasing the total silicon surface by 225 percent over more widely used 200-mm wafers. It also increases the number of individual computer chips by 240 percent, while using 40 percent less energy and water per chip than 200-mm wafers, say Intel officials.

"Nearly 80 percent of new fabrication facilities are being built outside the U.S. due to the incentives that other countries offer, including low taxes, loans, and direct subsidies," says John Greenagel, communications director for the Semiconductor Industry Association. "We are very supportive to see that Intel is building here."

There were 31 fabrication facilities that started construction worldwide in 2005, Strategic Marketing Associates, a Santa Cruz, Calif.-based industry consultant, reports. Over 52 percent of those were in Asia Pacific, and only 19 percent were in the U.S. Three-hundred-mm fabs accounted for 12 out of the 31 projects, and five of those were in the U.S.

"The market for personal computers is meeting expectations of eight to 10 percent unit growth in 2006 as evidenced by a year-on-year increase of 6.9 percent in microprocessor sales," SIA President George Scalise said. "We continue to believe our forecast for 7.9 percent growth for 2006 will be achieved."