Turnaround crews show up before the steel does. Cranes, pipe racks, scaffold, spare exchangers and pallets of insulation all need ground that will carry them, and a shutdown clock does not stop for mud. A stabilized laydown yard is the flat, drained, load-rated surface that turns the first morning of a shutdown into a work day instead of a recovery day.
We build laydown yards for plant owners, fab shops, oilfield-services operators and the contractors who work for them in Casper and Natrona County. The yard may sit beside the refinery fence on the east side of town, next to a fab shop, or on raw ground where a new plant is going up. The work is the same each time. Strip it, grade it, drain it, and put a base under it that holds an outrigger load in April and in January.
Settle three things first: the heaviest pick, the longest stay and the way out. Everything else in the design follows from those.
Why Casper yards get used hard
Casper sits on the North Platte at 5,150 feet, and the ground behaves like it. Snowmelt, frost and wind turn a soft yard into a rutted one fast. Local industrial land is also big. The Casper Logistics Hub is listed as Magnet Site 2 of Foreign Trade Zone 157 at 6 Mile Road and Commerce Street, at 984 acres, so there is room to stage large equipment close to the road and rail network if the ground is prepared for it.
The refinery at 5700 East Highway 20-26 is a 30,000 barrel per day plant, and any plant that size generates planned shutdown work with a short window and a long list of equipment. Out toward the oil field, the town of Edgerton was created to serve the businesses working the Salt Creek field. Those operators move trucks, rigs and tubulars across yards all year, and the surface has to take it.
What goes into a yard that holds
We start with a geotechnical read and a survey. Topsoil and organic material come off. Soft spots are proof-rolled with a loaded truck and either undercut or stabilized. We lay woven or non-woven geotextile where the subgrade is weak, then build the base in compacted lifts of crushed aggregate. For heavy cranes we design to the outrigger point load, not to a general bearing number, and we put crane mats or a thicker section at designated pick zones.
Drainage is the second half of the job. A yard that ponds is a yard that fails by spring. We cross-slope the surface, cut ditches or swales, size culverts at the entry, and route water away from the process side of the plant. If the yard drains toward a stormwater system, we coordinate that discharge with the owner and the permitting authority before we set grade stakes. Then we finish with the entry apron, gates, signage and a marked pedestrian route so people on foot are not walking through truck traffic.
Permit to work, orientation and traffic control
Most of our yards are built next to something that can hurt people. Before a crew steps on the property we complete the owner's safety orientation, agree on the permit to work for any hot work or excavation, and mark underground lines. In a plant, dig permits come before the bucket, not after. We locate and pothole to confirm pipe and cable, and we keep a spotter on any machine working near them.
Traffic is the other hazard. Trucks, forklifts, cranes and pedestrians share a yard, so we lay out one-way loops, backup-free unloading positions and separate foot paths. Lighting, wheel stops and clear sight lines go in at the start, not as an afterthought. On live sites we keep the work zone fenced and give the operations lead a daily plan for what is open and what is closed.
Building the yard before the shutdown, not during it
A laydown yard has to be finished and cured ahead of the first delivery. Work backward from the mobilization date. Add time for the geotechnical report, the submittal of the base design, any excavation or stormwater approval, and weather. Wind and early snow can cost a week on high-plains ground, and frozen base cannot be compacted, so late-season starts carry real risk.
We can phase the work: heavy pick zones first, then parking and pedestrian areas, then final grading and surfacing. That lets you start receiving equipment while the rest of the yard is finished. When the shutdown ends, we can also plan demobilization, including removing mats, regrading and restoring the surface, so the yard goes back to the owner in a usable condition.
What moves the price
Base thickness is the largest variable, and it comes from the soil and the loads. A yard that stages exchangers and cranes costs more per square foot than one that stores pipe. Import distance for aggregate, the need for geotextile or lime or cement stabilization, and the amount of drainage work all add up. Dust control, fencing and lighting are smaller line items that owners often forget.
Cheap yards are expensive. A thin base that rutted under the first crane costs a shutdown day, and a lost shutdown day is the most expensive kind. We would rather talk through the heaviest load and design for it once. If budget is tight, we can reduce the heavy zone and keep the rest light, which usually saves more than a thinner section everywhere.
Work that goes with the yard
A yard rarely stands alone. Heavy-haul access roads connect it to the highway, fencing and gate security protect the equipment inside it, and equipment pads sit at the far end if a unit is being replaced rather than repaired. We scope them together when we can so the same team and the same survey control carry across the whole site.
If your operation serves the refinery or a processing plant, our work with heavy industry owners follows the same discipline: permit first, ground second, steel third. Send us the lift plan and the dates and we will tell you what the ground needs.
Tell us the heaviest pick and the date
Send the lift plan, the site location and the mobilization date. We will walk the ground, review the soils and give you a base design and a schedule you can plan the shutdown around.
Common Questions
How thick does the base need to be for a crane?
It depends on the crane, the outrigger load and the subgrade. We design to the point load on the pad, not a generic number, and we often use crane mats on top of the stabilized base. A geotechnical report gives the bearing capacity, and the crane vendor provides the load chart. Share both and we will give you a section.
Can you build the yard in winter?
Yes, with limits. Frozen ground cannot be compacted, so we thaw, blanket or import non-frost-susceptible fill where needed. Snow removal and ice control become part of the scope. Casper has a three foot frost line to the top of footing on its published criteria, so we plan for real frost, not a light skim.
Who handles stormwater approval?
We prepare the grading and drainage plan and coordinate with the owner and the local authority. Whether a separate stormwater permit is needed depends on the disturbed area and where the water goes. We raise it at the start so approval does not sit on the critical path.
Do you work inside operating plants?
We do, under the owner's rules. That means orientation, permits to work, locating underground lines and keeping a defined work zone. We submit our safety plan before mobilizing and follow the plant's hot-work and excavation procedures.
What happens to the yard after the shutdown?
You can keep it as a permanent staging area, or we can strip it back and restore the ground. Many owners keep it, because the next outage is only a few years away and the base is already in place.