Holdfast Training Services Trial Blog

Building 45:

Having gotten over the moral and ethical issues I have with spending tax payer’s money on a project that is adding no value what-so-ever I have been pressing ahead with additional work on the seismic calculations and retro-fit options. The Geo-tech guys were really kind and decided to change their site classification from an E to D…..great….. it basically means I get to start all over again with the calcs but the overall forces involved will be lower – meaning fewer bolts and connections in the final design. Other variations keep cropping up as the Architects periodically change their minds about what they want to put in there. I feel a spreadsheet coming on.

I have started writing specifications for concrete, steel and timber for the final project which is possibly the most tedious thing ever….but also the most important aspect of the documentation. In any discrepancy between drawings or scopes of work etc, the specs will take precedence so they have to be right. Apparently I’m an expert now have been asked to review other people’s as well….kill me now.

I am also writing the scope of works for this and thankfully this is a little more engaging. When you’re doing a new build – you want everything to be new and shiny and anything less than that will result in a slap on the wrist and an early bed time for the contractor. On a renovation where you’re on a tight budget however, that’s a different story. Exactly how much section loss are we allowing before we have to replace a joist? How much cracking constitutes needing a replacement? What level of water damage is acceptable? If you’re not careful about how you scope this you’re basically drawing up a lovely shopping list for the contractor who will kick the arse out of it and tell you that EVERYTHING is suffering some sort of deterioration. I’m working on making this thing as detailed but user friendly as possible to ensure that when this goes out to bid, all contractors will know exactly what they are bidding on. It’s going to go forward with an estimate of how much damage we think is likely to be present (bearing in mind we don’t even have access to all the damaged areas) and then we’ll be asking for a unit rate for variations above or below that price.

I hate to admit this – but Auto CAD is currently kicking my ass.

Levee Repairs:

A significant crack has been found on a hefty retaining wall in Pennsylvania. They are trying to get a rapid turn around to effect some repairs prior to hurricane season. One concern was to make sure the contractor is able to provide a ‘temporary plan’ to protect the levee system if a flood even occurs during the construction phase. The main engineer and the technician were banding around all sorts of temporary framing and ‘if this happens then do x y or z’ until I suggested to simply make the actual shuttering for a concrete pour capable of withstanding the full flood event in itself. This way there is no plan b to go wrong or get mixed up. I helped them create a configuration that allows the formwork for the pour (including a corner expansion joint) to be installed safely whilst fulfilling the temporary / flood emergency criteria.

Poplar Island:

Some great advances have taken place on this project. As part of the research I appraised a number of additional options for decanting water over a ‘weir’ structure and into a tidal inlet structure. I developed my concept of a roller-shutter configuration and demonstrated it to the Engineering Research and Development Center (ERDC) who ware very positive about its potential application in a ‘clean’ environment. They are looking at possible ways of attracting some money so they can look at wider applications.

An option that was actually suggested by ERDC and adapted to my application was for a flexible skimming weir which I have appraised and (unfortunately) had to discount due to a raised likelihood of increased approach velocities. A variation of this is actually going to be built at one of the other districts. I have established lines of communication for the teams so they can review progress of the design and application

To get over the complete lack of emergency discharge options – I generated an option that would allow stop-log stack to be forcibly ripped out of their frames. Again this has been presented to ERDC who have now taken the concept another step further with the use of ‘rebar pullers’ to avoid the requirement for a crane to lift the stacks.

Eventually – I drew a close to the research and appraisal and drew a final proposal together based on all of the best practice, lessons learned, material properties, constructability and practicalities. The proposal has significantly improved safety and access provisions. (Floating platforms – safety rails – inclusion of emergency discharge options etc)

I delivered a presentation on the research and the final proposal to the USACE Poplar Island team who have been extremely supportive and complementary about the proposals (To the point that they have little to no changes to prpose other than possible tweaks to the main bulk-heads to make them less substantial). They want me to re-package the brief into a contractor friendly version (I’ll do it all in cockney rhyming slang) so I can present it to the Port Authority and the primary contractors. Initial estimates are that the combined structure will make savings in the region of $2.2M for the expansion alone. (Mainly generated by construction efficiencies in not having to re-mobilise plant and equipment and reducing bulk earth movement). The green light has been given for the detailed design to go ahead after these presentation / feedback sessions have occurred……so it was all worth it.

I continue to generate further links with other districts via the ERDC where folks are tackling very similar issues but from a different perspective. I believe that because the team here has been ‘doing what they do’ for so long now they stopped looking further afield for inspiration. Hopefully I can generate some positive cross-pollination of ideas and methods as a result.

In Other News:

There is a nice little town by the name of Intercourse in PA. The wife want to go shopping for arts and crafts (or a giant steel moose head depending on how you look at it). So I figured it would be worth inviting our new neighbours Nick and Caroline along via text message from my wife’s phone….”Hi Nick. Seeing as we’re all getting on so well, Matt and I wondered if you’re interested in Intercourse this Saturday.” Perhaps it was a bit too formal. Either way – Nick is not so easily fooled.

We also found genuine tins of Heinz baked beans…our first in 15 months. It started off in a civil manner as the wife and I savoured a brief (slightly less sweetened) taste of home. It quickly degenerated into accusations of bean theivery and possessiveness from both parties. We quite literally need to hire a bean counter in order to maintain domestic harmony. Undeterred I have begun a secret stash at work…..pity my colleagues!

Finally – I offered my creative skills to the poor folks who run the maintenance in the building. After a series of confusing and contradictory notes appearing around the office – I conducted my own non-verbal communication exercise to help them out and get the real meaning across.

My name is McFry – and I approve this message.