More than 1,000 contracted workers – the majority from 30-plus companies that operate in New Brunswick, Canada, were on the job at Irving Tissue and Irving Pulp & Paper near Reversing Falls in West Saint John, N.B., from August 22 to August 29. The workers were in addition to the team of 110 people employed at Irving Tissue and 350 people employed at the Irving Pulp & Paper mill.

 

During that time, more than 2,400 scheduled tasks were executed, involving a number of trades such as millwrights, welders, pipefitters, electricians, instrumentation specialists, boilermakers, and bricklayers.

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The week-long activity was part of an 18-month shutdown cycle in which each mill is taken down for routine inspection and maintenance is conducted on many of the key mill systems not normally taken out of service under everyday operation. In addition to regular inspections and maintenance on key pieces of equipment, final project tie-ins associated with phase 2 of the $450 million modernization at the Irving Pulp and Paper mill was also completed. 

"Our shutdown is critical to the safe and efficient operation of our combined pulp and tissue facilities," said Mark Mosher, VP of Pulp and Paper Operations for J.D. Irving. "This scheduled maintenance is also important to the many other communities in New Brunswick through the jobs and spin-offs this work brings. These contractors are part of a supply chain that includes 1,700 businesses throughout New Brunswick that provide goods and services to our forest products operations."

In the meantime, the current phase of the modernization project has created about 450 direct and indirect construction jobs on-site. To date, JDI has awarded more than $64 million in contracts to 124 New Brunswick companies since the modernization began last spring.   

   

Irving Pulp and Paper and the west side tissue mill are central part of JDI’s forest products value chain in New Brunswick, which generates more than $400 million in annual purchases, supporting 1,700-plus suppliers across 250 communities in the province.

The company’s New Brunswick pulp products are used to make Royale, Majesta, and Scotties (U.S.).