Holdfast Training Services Trial Blog

Topics I have worked on

Controls systems – SSP user interface review, and RIID sensor location etc

In the past couple of weeks I have become much more involved with the control system on the two projects. Within the SSP this has involved reviewing the User Interface that has been produced by the controls subcontractor and comparing this with what is required and what is asked for in the specification. Of course all 3 of these are different, and so I had to try and come to a solution which will please the customer and not cost any more, (i.e. not vary far from the specification, and generally trade one step out to two steps back). It did bring it home quite how similar all control systems are; I could really see the value of the controls module we did, although I really wouldn’t want to write the ladder logic for this system. The crux of the situation is that the information is in the system, but the user interface is not displaying as required.

Within the RIID project I have been working with the contractor, subbies and Architects/Engineers to ensure the correct sensors are collecting the correct information from the correct locations. The shop drawings (which were previously accepted by the Corp, but also have the caveat that if we made a mistake it’s not our problem) vary from the design schematics at some points. The data that will be lost due to the differences has to be either classified as irrelevant anyway (something the designer is unwilling to do, in case they realise why it was important later on), or we need to extrapolate it out from other data or the suchlike.

In order to get the cycle of “construction > problem > question > answer” moving more quickly I convened a few different meetings with the various parties. I found that the Architects/Engineers, whilst being very intelligent and very quick on the uptake, find every question interesting and meriting further research, and so I had to keeping pushing hard to get back towards a triage mentality, as we had over 50 different issues to address. These worked well, as we managed to return 20 in 2 days, and assign 25 to further research, and pass the rest to more relevant POCs.

SSP – Squirty bottle inspection of sealant – keep it simple

Things are now very quiet in the smaller project of the SSP, as we are so close to completion, but also having to wait until the design variation has been approved and checked. We have occasional inspections, such as the inspection of the contractors-suggested-variation for sealing the pipe insulation ends, a good example of keeping things simple. The food coloured water was able to be wiped off – test pass!

CI’s Visit

As far as we are aware the CI’s visit went well. It has thrown up some interesting discussion for me and Matt to research, namely the possibility of doing some of the courses run by USACE for their engineers, as part of an induction to USACE process.

Of interest

Lines drawn in the sand, union interaction and quality of work.

There is some trouble continuing to rumble on site as the pipe fitters union is upset that the sheet metal workers are “encroaching” on their turf. This has happened due to the fact that the exhaust air from the high containment labs is piped rather than ducted, to give the highest level of containment possible. The sheet metal workers are responsible for all the air systems, and so have been fitting pipes where relevant. Clearly the pipe fitters union is upset that the work has not gone to them. At the moment the situation is stable, but it is an interesting study into the dynamics of unions. The quality of the work seems to be adequate in the most part.

Prices will always edge up – Corp holds onto small credit for negotiation, contractor places all costs in.

A couple of the problems that I have solved should have resulted in a small (few thousand dollars) credit, however due to the cost of chasing these credits no gain would be felt, so they are recorded for future haggling. When the contractor is given a variation they charge for everything they can, and as a result the cost of the project will always edge up, and of course the variations are excluded from the gain share pain share calculations.

And on the lighter side

Phosphorus in the sewage plant

We have been having problems recently with the local sewage plant accusing us of killing their “good bacteria” with too much phosphorus in the sewage. They have pointed the finger at our Fort Detrick by following the trail back to the camp gate, and then by deduction it was assumed to be the massive building site in the middle of camp. There was a lot of accusatory finger pointing as to who had been illegally dumping into the drains, until I pointed out that the storm water would likely have a lot of fertilizer in it. The Americans hadn’t thought of this as almost all of their systems keep storm water entirely separate from black water. On inspection there are some antiquated systems on camp that still have cross connections, so this seems to have explained the problem, and shifted the blame away from us. No idea how they are going to solve the phosphorus though… (Not my problem…)

Queens’s diamond jubilee party

Sarah and I hosted a Party to Celebrate the Queens Diamond Jubilee (which oddly enough isn’t a public holiday in America), and invited a good portion of the office round to our place. We had managed to buy-up pretty much every Union Jack Flag from across the states, and had them up everywhere in our house. I’m still not sure whether the guys though this was normal, or whether they were being polite by not laughing at the Red/White/Blue house. It went off well serving all the English traditions like cream teas, Pimms and slightly burnt BBQ.

My home brew

The first batch of home brew is almost ready… and I have already tried it: seems pretty good, but also quite heavy – not really a session beer (as I believe it is described).