New Pens Arena

[27hand]

Well, I finally got the call.

"Go to the new Pens Arena on Tuesday" (a week ago).

When I finished a dual OR and ICU renovation job in Presby hospital last Dec, I told my super that I will no longer work outside in the winter.
I got the call on the first day of spring.
Damn. I really didn't want to deal with the hassles of being involved with another large plumbing project.

Orientation and drug testing has afforded me the opportunity to wear a green sticker on my hardhat stating I am clean of 10 different drugs. Osha, however, states it is a violation to wear a sticker on a hardhat (it could conceal a defect).

In 50 or 60 thousand more manhours, I should be able to leave.

It IS pretty impressive to stand at center ice and look around. Steel is going up. Concrete is being poured. Mud is everywhere. Information is lacking. Safety(as much as its generally for our own good) borderlines idiocy. RFI's (request's for information) are numerous.

There are moments of humor occasionally. As you enter a mud filled, smelly porta john to get rid of some used coffee, you read the latest of crapper poetry, nonsensical lines of wit and hand drawn pictures of, well, you can probably guess. It doesn't take much to amuse me so when i read this, I do get a chuckle.

We only have 14 plumbers now but are hiring 3 more next week and the number will likely reach 45 to 60 by the jobs big push to meet the ridiculously accelerated schedule.

Some guys are working 10 hours a day, 6 days a week, even when it rains.

I only have 2 (2 man) crews at this point and we unloaded all the mechanical room equipment a couple days ago with a cherry picker and a Lull(glorified rough terrain fork truck). I took my 35 minutes of Lull training and jumped on that puppy to move the crane offloaded equipment into the building. Our Lull can lift 8 thousand pounds at the equipment but booming it in 30 or 40 feet caused the rear tires to come off the ground with a 4500 lb triplex water booster pump. We knew it would happen,eased the load in just above the floor level and cribbed the floor where we expected the load to come down. It worked out just right.

I believe there is a Consol website which takes a picture every 30 seconds to record the progress of the project erection.

I thought it was pretty cool that a few of the Penguins came to the jobsite and delivered Pizza to the men. They took the time to sign hardhats and BS with the workers. I unfortunately, was doing material takeoff in our field office .

The good side is that I have a job in this economy. I'll make the best of it and will probably be within a year of retirement when it is completed.
http://penguins.nhl.com/ext/html/webcam4.html

I may update the progress occasionally with some pics.
http://www.wpxi.com/pcnc/19004274/detail.html#-

On another note, today is 27 and Mrs 27hands 27th anniversary.


Later,

27GoPenshand

[brian]

i'm glad they're getting a new building......in pittsburgh.
but it'll be hard to see the igloo go.
iirc it is the oldest arena in the league. been there few time, but sadly never for a game.

i'm also glad to see they've turned the fire up the last few weeks, was looking real bad there for a bit.

and the safety nazis are going nuts.

[jmiro]

Nice. Thanks I enjoyed the read.

[Paradigm]

I drive by the site twice a week. I've been doing that since 2007. It's pretty cool watching the transformation of that area.

[spabula]

I am Eastie.... I only know of one big contractor out there.. McKamish??

[Huntingdonhavoc]

I believe Wyatt won the bid on the interiors so it is one of two big new jobs on the horizon that could last out this little downspell. There is a possibility I may end up down there as well in the future.

What's your take on the Rivers parking garage whoops? Haha. Its been all over the news so I'm sure they're are alot of folks taking heat on that one. Whats a foot or so lean amongst friends . I'm sure having Osha there every day is quite a circus act. We've had jobs close up when they come just because the fines start a rolling once they start they're walks.

[brian]

Whats a foot or so lean amongst friends .

why should the italians get all the press??!

[27hand]

I am Eastie.... I only know of one big contractor out there.. McKamish??

McKamish it is on the mechanical/plumbing.

McKamish has a project going at Dover Air Force base(?)(over there in eastie land)

Wyatt is currently slopping up the steel columns with fireproofing ..

Cost is coming aboard this week to start blockwork in the mechanical area of the sub service level.


There are some other large mechanicals in Pittsburgh.

Ruthrauff/Sauer has the Casino project and just finished the plumbing at Childrens hospital ( I worked for both RuthRauff and Sauer(Allegheny County Jail) in the past before Sauer bought them out).

Wayne Crouse did the airside of the Pittsburgh Airport a while back.(Best job I was ever on)

The Biomedical Science Tower in Oakland was done by Wayne Crouse/McKamish in a combined effort (I hated that job).

Tomko does a ton of work (never worked for them and have no desire to go there)

Others seem to cycle in and out with large projects.

Limbach (still around but slow) has a pretty good sized job coming up at a hospital in Butler I think). I worked for them 27 years ago when they did the PPG tower complex and the Allegheny General Hospital job just before that (first time I brazed 6" copper for the vacuum system).

When Pittsburgh was booming,here is me on the PPG tower.


You can see what was then called the Dravo building being constructed behind me. I think DeMore Mechanical did the plumbing on that one. The Oxford tower ( no pic)was also built at the same time.

I've been lucky enough to work on several large projects over the past 33 years (April fools day was the day I was initiated into Plumbers Local union #27 33 years ago----perhaps I should have taken it as an omen and stayed in computers )

I didn't like working in the subway, too many rats when the old sewers were cut through.


27littleworkhistoryhand

[27hand]

I believe Wyatt won the bid on the interiors so it is one of two big new jobs on the horizon that could last out this little downspell. There is a possibility I may end up down there as well in the future.

What's your take on the Rivers parking garage whoops? Haha. Its been all over the news so I'm sure they're are alot of folks taking heat on that one. Whats a foot or so lean amongst friends . I'm sure having Osha there every day is quite a circus act. We've had jobs close up when they come just because the fines start a rolling once they start they're walks.

Hope to see you there.

I didn't hear about the parking garage.

The Allegheny County jail had concrete elevator shafts twisted by about 4 or 5 inches. They jackhammered the inside of them back to the rebar to try to fix that problem. The engineering outfit was fired from that project IIRC.

If OSHA comes to our site (and I expect them to at some point), I tell my guys to close the gangboxes and walk away. As much as you try to maintain a safe work area, they will find violations and fine the hell out of you. I believe they are self funded and use the fines to justify their positions.
I don't know that for fact but they are pretty easy to negotiate fines downward so it seems like they (overfine if you will) to get something.

They are there to maintain a safe work place and the threat of having them on the job keeps most contractors in line safety wise which is good but some incidents are a real stretch for being cited.

Think safe, act safe, be safe.

27notworkingtodayhand

[BIGSHOVEL]

I love the "big" jobsites only 20 more years to go I don't know what that converts to how many more cold sandwitches and thermos's of coffee but nothing give me more pleasure in life than Wednesdays subcontractor job meetings. Last week three walked off of the job and two more were about to kill one another. I hope my next one isn't a school.

Brad