Archive
Week 6 – 16-21 April 12 – Just ticking over
This week has been quiet as the Project Leader, Barry, has taken 2 weeks annual leave back on the Emerald Isle which means that all is quiet on the Jetty front. Barry has left me in charge by virtue of my seniority and ability to get things done but there is not that much happening. On the Friday of the previous week we had received a letter from Bechtel stating that the project start date would be in the window of July to October. This means that we have no certainty, no ability to commit to contracts as we don’t know when they’ll start and I have that nagging feeling that if it continues on I may be at risk of failing to complete my DOs. That said, things may start in July and potentially the enabling works could begin before that, which is actually one of my subcontracts. Once the birth has happened and my paternity leave over I’ll need to fully assess what is happening with this project and whether my DOs are achievable. I suspect that this might best be discussed during the CI’s visit in late May.
The week has been spent finalising Activity Method Statements to find out that the risk assessment format has just been changed by JHG and need to be rewritten. Joy! So at least that’s something for next week. Also, I have been working on some pile testing stuff in conjunction with the Brisbane design office. Finally has been trying to get involved in meetings and discussions that Barry would normally be in to find that people are only interested in the organ grinder and not the monkey! This week I have allowed it to happen but next week I will be a little firmer with them and make sure that they include me in their discussions.
One good thing that did happen was that I organised a trip on Friday to the JHG workshops in Rockhampton, an hour and a half north of Gladstone. We went and saw the pile gates for one of our piling barges and inspected their workshops as one of our suppliers. A good trip, similar to the Civils trip to NuSteel, only with slightly less to see and nowhere near as tidy around the edges. Some big positives though in that neither of the junior engineers had been to/seen a workshop like this so a good development opportunity for each of them.
Not a great deal else to report without a site to actually be working on! (Note the frustration in the writers tone tempered with the fact that his wife is about to give birth and being quiet on site is not such a bad thing when about to take 2 weeks paternity leave!)
It has been a sad week personally with the loss of not one but 2 dogs. Jackson was put to sleep and then on Saturday I got a call saying that Blaze had started whelping! Unknown to us, Blaze had been knocked up by the foster carer’s dog, which was supposedly neutered! Blaze is 7 (70 in human years) and in no state for this and so she went to the vet for a c-section. After Blaze had got out of the car a still-born pup was found wrapped in blankets. The vet x-rayed her and could not see any more pups which is not surprising with her age. So an overall sad week for Blaze and my parents who have stepped in and had to deal with all of this trauma. It’s also been fairly hard on Team Serevena with mini-me the third due any day now as we enter week 40 of the pregnancy.
Looking ahead, next week will be fairly quiet again giving me the opportunity to finalise AER 2 and my thesis proposal. It’s also a bit stop start with Wednesday off for Anzac Day on Wed. I have been invited to the dawn service and shall be attending to pay my respects. Beyond that, it’s building up for another R&R break the following week so most people will be winding down from now on.
Week 3. 16th – 20th April 2012
Ask and you shall be given
Just as it seemed there would be little work to do, I am now working for 3 different programme managers on three completely unrelated tasks – in fact I’m wondering if one of them has any relevance for me at all… In addition to the Bruce P60 Bridge Bearing Access Platforms (I’ve written the SOR which is now being reviewed by the Programme Manager) I am working on the following:
Study into the Eastern Trough Area Project (ETAP) platform POB (Persons on Board). Prior to putting more accommodation modules (or similar) on the ETAP platform I have been tasked with working out what the addition of manpower would mean – more lifeboats (certainly); more kitchen space (probably); increased electrical demand, HVAC, water and everything else (you betcha), another helipad (maybe not). Presently ETAP can hold 113 POB, so 30 more is a fair increase. I also need to delve around and see if the figure of 30 is an ‘all-in’ figure inclusive of logistics (cooking, cleaning etc) or if that is for drilling alone, and so more support staff would be needed. And work out who said 30 in the first instance anyway!!! Having not been onto ETAP or any other platform yet I’m still not completely au fait with the goings on off-shore, so a recce is definitely required!
Depending on the results of this self-defined study, I might find myself designing new accommodation to go on the platform or doing a cost-analysis of different options – accommodation barges for peak periods, daily commutes or use of floatels. Although this analysis is not engineering per se, this task (which could end up pretty huge – we’re talking about spending many £ms here) will require me to get involved with many different departments in the SPU (Strategic Performance Unit – I am in the North Sea SPU) and test my critical analysis. It will almost certainly get me off-shore too which will be good.
ETAP Platform at night
Runcorn – is it working? Nine months ago our main design-house contractor, PSN, were asked by BP to expand their engineering capacity. They did this by forming an office in Runcorn, Cheshire, who now deal with some of our design tasks and other engineering. But – as I found out first-hand at our team meeting a fortnight ago, the BP staff are rather dubious about its effectiveness. Here, the PSN guys here can easily be called in for meetings, or chatted to informally, but there is a thought that Runcorn is taking a bit longer, and so steps in Captain Warner to investigate. This is clearly not engineering, but very much focussed on management of contracts and HR. Will it be useful for me? I think it will give me a better idea of how things work/ don’t work and certainly it will build my business acumen as I delve into hours worked and Cost Value Reporting (CVR) by different offices. Some indications actually suggest that the engineering done there is better than here and that the only problem lies in the cost reporting: maybe all that is required is a restructure and better use of conference calls or Skype – most of us have webcams on our work laptops, after all!
Other bits – work
Courses completed this week include on-line and face-to-face Management of Change training, something that BP are very big on, having put a failure of Change Management down as a key factor in both the Flixborough and Grangemouth disasters. I can now start the procedure of affecting any process, plant or people changes on the system.
This week I also got to wear my PPE, as I watched a rehearsal for a crane lift of a piece of duct. Yes, really. This is one of Ish’s jobs that will get handed my way: taking off the old Low Pressure Booster Comressor (LPBC) stack off Magnus and replacing it with a new one. Every lift of anything <25kg is a big deal offshore, and as I understand it must be done using a crane or similar. People get very worried that if anything falls off the platform it may come to rest abruptly on some pipeline a hundred metres below, and we don’t want that!
Next week I am away on course all week, completing the 2-day Minimum Industry Safety Training (MIST) and 3-day Basic Offshore Safety Induction and Emergency Training (BOSIET) courses, which will finally allow me to go off-shore.
Other bits – not work
The cycle to work (70-mile round trip) is not pleasant with a headwind in the rain.
Running in the Cairngorms is awesome, no matter what the weather (last weekend). Scrambling in the Cairngorms is still ‘winter conditions’ as today proved, and outstanding.
And I’m getting to meet some of the local community: in my role of the incoming Adjutant, Capt Warner’s husband, I went for (Queen’s birthday) drinks yesterday at the Lord Lieutenant of Moray’s house and tipped my hat to the local MP, a retired General and various local dignitaries.
The Simple Stuff..
Period Covered 12 – 19 April 12
Summary: Simple Stuff…
Work towards completion for the service tunnel ( due to handover to the State on 28 Apr) goes at full pace and managing and co-coordinating the subcontractors – Detailed Excavation, Concrete and waterproofers is taking up most of my day along with my normal responsibilities. Work on the rest of the site continues with piling still working their way steadily around site, followed up by cropping and trimming and capping beam pours. I have had a mixed week, some highs and some lows…still a lot to learn but starting to build relationships with the subcontractors and have started being able to answer questions without having to check with someone first!! Had a month review with my manger on Friday which was very positive, and my attachment is looking like if all goes to plan I will be in the best possible position to complete my DOs.
During this period I have completed the following on top of my:
- Supervision of GMF ground work contractors – bulk & detailed excavation and pile cropping
- Taking the Site Pre Start Meetings
- Completed TRA and Hazard Inspection audit
- Attended long term logistics brief
- Safety Supervision
- Programme co-ordination meetings
Work on site. It’s hard to describe how quickly the project is progressing. The site is beginning to open out and we have finally got on top of the Earhtwork contractors who are now complying with the John Holland Quality and Safery Standards. With nothing to compare it with I only have the opinions of people on site. The UK/Irish Engineers seem to think it is pretty slow and the Australian Contractors think this is the fastest job they have ever worked on: I guess it’s somewhere in the middle!
Issues/observations. This week’s theme for the blog is the simple things that I have either been really impressed with or the little things that are going wrong which may threaten the success of the project and detract from what a lot of good work is being done!
Simple Good things:
- Chalk Lines. So simple, yet so effective, I never thought I would get so excited by some string and some chalk all in one gadget. I have been helping the Waterproofers to set out and have found this tool to be so simple yet so effective
- Penetrometer. Part of my quality inspections is to ensure the sand has been compacted to the right strength before the area is handed over to the concreters (this is something that the contractors are always trying to cut corners with). No requirement for an expensive calibrated gauge, a simple weight, a metal pole and 2 marks, if it takes 8 or more blows then success. Again simple but effective.
- Names on Shirts and Helmets. Finally, I have now been issued my fluerecent site suit which though means popping to the pub after work is a little more difficult, I think they are excellent. Not just for the safety aspect of being seen but they have are names embroided on to them, this really helps the subcontracotrs and labourers identify the supervisors and engineers and in my opinion helps communication and team building. Simple….
Simple Bad Things
- Mud on the Public Road. A constant problem for the earthwork contractor and a battle they are not winning at the moment. They have tried several solutions from wheel washes to stone rumble strips but mud is still causing a hazard at the entrance to site. This is a serious hazard and the client may well shut the site because of it.
- Trucks stacking on the road. The Earthworks contractor uses some of its own trucks but the majority are subcontracted out. The site is not allowed to accept vehicles before 7am and as the trucks are individually owned they all want to arrive at 6.55am to be the first in. Because of the constrictions in the area this results in trucks stacking up on the public road causing a hazard. After several meeting and discussion and assurance this would stop this continued up to the point where John Holland banned all muck away trucks from site for 2 days so the earthworks contractor finally got the message about how serious an issue this was.
- Smokers. The site is considered to be council property so no one is allowed to smoke on it. John Holland took the pragmatic view that people would smoke and set up a very dicrete smoking area, covered from view, in the corner of the site. This was working well, until the state visited and were appalled at this solution. As a result the smoking area has had to be removed and the workforce now has to cross a dual carriageway and smoke in the central reservation at the entrance to site. This is a remarkable decision which I am sure will result in someone being seriously hurt…I don’t often have much sympathy for smokers but this decision lacks basic common sense.
Further Work
- I am going to be the lead on site for the dewatering plan for the deep cores which will be excavated soon. It is at the tender stage so I am hoping it will be an excellent technical project to go through the process from tender review to construction. Though not a massive part of the project it will be an excellent task to learn the JHG systems.
- I have been loaded onto the next phase of my “Passport to Safety” and will be attending the Safety Risk Leadership course at the end of April.
- Following my one month review meeting with my Works Package Manager we have agreed that I will continue to be a supervisor to the end of the month, before moving into my full time engineer role. Discussions have already begun and they are going to allocate me a part of the project to take from conception and tendering through to construction on site before I leave in December. This is excellent news.
- I am also hoping I will be the lead for the construction of a new footpath on the other side of site. This is to allow the logistics slip lane to become operational. Though this not a technically difficult task, the new foot path will be constructed on Kings Park (a cross between Hyde Park and Kew Gardens) and result in the destruction of a number of trees and habitats. If all goes to plan I hope this will give me exposure to the environmental considerations and will involve plenty of research into Enviro Law, the local council and the media!
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