Final Assembly Of First South Carolina-Built 787 Dreamliner To
Begin Next Month
Despite the bizarre spectre of controversial issues with recent
decisions from the NLRB, elected officials and representatives from
numerous community and business groups, suppliers and
subcontractors joined more than 1,000 Boeing employees at its North
Charleston, S.C., facility, Friday, for a ribbon-cutting ceremony
to mark the opening of the new 787 Dreamliner Final Assembly
building.
"In this building, our talented Boeing South Carolina teammates
are going to assemble the finest, most technologically advanced
commercial widebody airplane in history," said Jack Jones, vice
president and general manager of Boeing South Carolina. "Airline
customers from around the world will come to the South Carolina
Lowcountry to take delivery of their 787s, and we look forward to
demonstrating what 'made with pride in South Carolina' is all
about."
Boeing's Site Services Group and BE&K/Turner, the
design-build team, were recognized at the ceremony for their work
in bringing construction of the building to completion six months
ahead of schedule. In addition the BE&K/Turner team has worked
3.7 million labor-hours without a lost time incident. Employees
began moving into the new building in May, and final assembly of
the first South Carolina-built 787 Dreamliner will begin later this
summer.
"Our partnerships with state and local government and industry
have made today possible," said Marco Cavazzoni, vice president and
general manager, Final Assembly & Delivery, Boeing South
Carolina. "I have a lot of gratitude and respect for every person
who has worked hard to help build this new 'house' for us. Every
person who steps through these doors is making history, and that's
something we should all take pride in."
In April, Boeing announced that thin-film solar laminate panels
would be installed on the roof of the Final Assembly building. This
solar installation will provide up to 2.6 megawatts of electrical
power for the site and is the largest in the Southeast by
production capacity.
The new Final Assembly building features 642,720 square feet of
covered space, roughly the equivalent of 10.5 football fields. More
than 18,000 tons of steel and one million cubic feet of concrete
were used in its construction. At full production rate, the South
Carolina Final Assembly facility will produce three 787 Dreamliners
per month.