Holdfast Training Services Trial Blog

Right now we should be on the verge of commissioning the mechanical and electrical services but there are quite a few issues to resolve before that can happen.  The weeks are filled with meetings where we discuss at length what needs to be done but nothing ever seems to get done.  The disagreements are getting few thanks to the system of referring them up the chain of command but the results are no quicker, as predicted!  Part of the problem in commissioning is down to the people trying to reinvent the wheel.  USACE employ a contractor to produce the specifications for successful commissioning.  They also require the contractor to employ an independent Commissioning Contractor who is under the Contractor’s pay (so not that independent), so that all testing is impartial.  However the Contractor can also have a say in how the Commissioning is carried out and can over rule their own Commissioning Contractor. They can in turn be over ruled by our Commissioning Contractor thus leading to multiple conflicts of interest.  The main issue revolves around the check list for the various stages of testing.  Initially you must have a Start Up when the equipment is turned on for the first time, then a Pre Functinal Check (PFC) which gets the system running then a Functional Performance Test (FPT) to show that the system works as per the specification before having an Interactive System Functional Performance Test to show that all the systems are working in harmony and not in isolation. Our commissioning contractor has written very detailed lists that need to be used but the Contractor’s Commissioning Contractor does not want to deviate from their own standard lists which often get rewritten by the Contractor when they are submitted to try and speed up progress by removing any “unnecessary” tests.  A perfect recipe for a hold up!  Of course the Contractor is cutting its own detail by carrying out its own PFCs without notifying the Corps to try and get round us and speed up which as quite annoying form our point of view because we are meant to sign off that the tests met our standards which we are being asked to do without seeing the tests.  Apparently it is illegal for our commissioning contractor to carry out the commissioning testing themselves which is crazy.  It is not as if they installed all the equipment themselves!

Further more there are still on site issues. 

We finally had the electrical testers out to look at the pump motors that keep tripping the circuit breakers. I took it upon myself to look at the co-ordination study which identifies how the circuit breakers and fuses are rated to avoid discrimination. This study (which had been approved!) had a lot of conflicts! When I challenged the Contractor they said this one was out of date, but we didn’t know that. When the tester arrived he brought the wrong tester which could not test for trips at less than a second. The next day the correct tester was used and we established the following:
1. All motors are drawing far too much in rush current on start up. For a 220A motor 1300A in rush was expected (6x running current). The regular motors were drawing 2200A probably because they are oversized for the job.
2. The faulty motor is drawing 3600A in one phase, 3450A in another and 3300A in the third. This probably due to damage in the windings where the insulation is susceptible to degradation by the ingress of water.We are still waiting on the results to be confirmed but it looks like this motor will be getting swapped out.

Motor testing

The Mechanical Contractor has also failed to establish why the drain over the BAS server leaks. They are going to cut it out to work out why.
A new project is happening next to the Lab. The office will be expanding by 40% to accommodate the in rush of Medical Corps personnel (mostly civvies) who will be needed. However the contract has just been stamped Ready To Advertise (put out to tender) and the Contract Officer’s Representative has noticed that there is no design for the upgrade. As the drawings have been stamped 100% any changes now will be expensive. I have been tasked with designing the new trailer. Not sure to what level of detail yet but it is very similar to one of course projects except that civvies take 2 weeks to give you an answer, not 2 minutes. There is no budget to work to either. When I pointed out that the longest side of this office was going to be south facing which would mean higher energy bills because the HVAC will be working hard the response was “And?”. Should keep me busy for a couple of days…..

This week I also took part in the Officer Professional Development day where all the military guys in the District get together and swap war stories whilst doing some work with the local community. This got off to an exciting start with an RV at 0600hrs next to the National Security Agency gate (think GCHQ) heavily sign posted with Keep Out signs (not mentioned in the instructions), where going to the gate by accident can result in a full body cavity search and vehicle strip down even for the US soldiers. After a few near misses we set off for the project. In this instance we installed nets to prevent the Canada Geese from eating the plant life in a designated Wet Land area of the Anacostia River just east of DC. This land was created by dumping dredge material in an underused river to create new wetlands and encourage the growth of wildlife. When the plants are eaten they fail to hold the dredged material in place and it washes away. We were given waders then had to go across a waist deep stagnant river to hammer in pickets and zip tie on the netting.

Unfortunately the civvie in charge had not banked on us being very efficient and we ran out of zip ties in 30 minutes. We did manage to carry material over to the site and put all the pickets in place (daily trivia – they call a monkey a pounder over here) before heading off to remove invasive weeds from the municipal golf course adjacent to the river. This was followed by a presentation on how civil works projects in the Corps are funded. This was interesting because Civil Projects (such as our wetland creation) must have a civilian organisation as a financial partner before they are approved. This is quite hard to achieve because these projects can take 20 years to come to fruition so finding somebody who is financially strong enough to last that long is quite hard. This project was part funded by Walmart, fitting really considering the banks of the river were covered in plastic bottles and other supermarket trash. The day concluded with lunch at a micro brewery and a fun day was has by all.

Harrisburg is still progressing well. The new roof insulation being installed will take the R value from 12 to 30m2K/W which should make a difference to the bills. We have finally managed to get the world’s worst Site Safety and Health Officer sacked for not performing up to the standards expected. Apart from his inability to submit useful paperwork and carry out relevant tool box talks (he actually did the same talk 3 weeks in row) he considered the best place to inspect his site was from the safety of his truck which would have been fine if the truck was on the roof not 40 feet below it.

A roof replacement in progress.

And in other news:
I have won a 3 day holiday courtesy of the Maryland State Fair we went to 2 weeks ago. All I have to do is pay $75 and attend a timeshare brief for 90 mins and I get a 3 day holiday in North Virginia. I am also going to the opening home match for the Ravens football team courtesy of a work colleague with a spare ticket. These are like rocking horse stuff and generally cost $300 so this is an awesome opportunity. We spent Labor Day weekend on the beach with the kids picking up fossilised shark teeth and going to the the State fair which cost $60 to get the kids on 5 rides!

As requested the top 5 things this week that I have discovered in which the US and UK differ:

1.  American Army Officers’ Clubs do not hold the same status as a Mess. They are generally avoided and do not have living in members.

2.  Smart Casual in the US Army is flip flops, shorts and T Shirt.

3. American Public schools (think UK comprehensives) get by financially by getting parents to sign contracts that “encourage” them to “donate” large amounts of cash to help fund the school. We have already donated $50 and a joined the PTA for $5!

4. In the state of Maryland you do not need a license or background check to own a shotgun, a muzzle loading deer rifle (accurate to 350 yards with a scope and fires a 0.5inch round), crossbow or compound longbow.

5. It is now deer season but only if you are using a bow. In some states crossbows cannot be used because they are deemed too accurate. (As you can tell there are a lot of hunters in my trailer!)

Proof the old Pope is alive and well and living in Baltimore whilst commuting to DC.

Has anyone come across this in the work place?