riggs newsletter.indd

The
POWER LINE
Message From The Safety Group
-Donald L. Masters, Director
“What Do We Want to be Remembered For?”
After our jobs have been completed, and at some time in the future
when we’ve retired or departed for
greener pastures, all of us, to some
degree, will be remembered. The
question is: “What do we want to be
remembered for?”
I ask this question due to the
increase of negative articles appearing in a variety of publications, as
well as on the news. The general
theme has been to explore a fairly
negative opinion about the direction
the construction industry appears to
be taking with regards to occupational safety and health. Most of the
authors seem to agree on two major
points. First, that the presence and/or
quality of contractor safety programs
and practices have slipped. Second, a corresponding increase in the
number and severity of work related
injuries, illnesses, and fatalities have
occurred because of it. Most agree
that the two main factors having the
greatest influence over these alarming trends seem to center around
Management’s perception that the
cost of safety is no longer affordable, and that they lack the resources
needed to effectively implement and
manage such a program. In short,
there appears to be enough evidence
to support the fact that a few companies (who in some cases are actually
being named in those articles) are
opting to return to the old dinosaur
days. Whether they realize it or not,
they’re paying a high price for doing
so.
At Riggs Distler, safety is an
attitude, a frame of mind. It is the
constant awareness of our actions. It
is a way of life. If it’s not safe, we
don’t do it! Our reward? At the end
Save the
Date(s)
Safety Meetings
& Training
Thanks for Your Efforts This Year!
-Leo Sniger, CEO
It’s hard to believe that another
year is coming to an end. 2006 has
brought much change and growth to
Riggs Distler. We opened a new office
in the Orlando, FL area, received many
awards for outstanding job performances, as well as safety excellence, and
as a result, have added to our already
extensive client base. We even started
“The Power Line” to keep everyone
informed of our progress.
As we move into 2007, I look forward to our continued growth, and
feel that the coming year will be more
exciting than the last, providing new
opportunities for carer advancement
for those who wish to grow with our
organization.
I would also like to thank everyone
for their hard work and dedication, and
to wish all of our employees and their
families a very joyous Holiday Season!
November/December 2006
Safety First
of the day, our people go home safe
and sound, and we have the opportunity to work for the best clients in the
industry.
So again I ask the question, “What
do you want to be remembered for?”
Having a reputation for always doing
a great job in a safe and compliant
manner, or being referred to negatively for all the world to see? The
decision is up to everyone associated
with our organization, as you too,
will be remembered either for the
good, or the bad that we accomplish.
Wishing everyone and their families
a Happy & Safe Holiday Season!
Baltimore - December 12th
Sharon Hill -December 14th
TOPIC: Final Review & Exam
Baltimore - January 16th
Sharon Hill - January 18th
TOPIC: To Be Announced
Time: 4:00 pm - 6:30 pm
Computer Corner
-Scott Zemaitatis
COMPUTER ISSUES?
A new Citrix server was recently
installed. If you are experiencing any
problems or difficulties, please contact
me at 609-254-3858.
Also, be sure to check out our updated website at www.riggsdistler.com
~Scott Zemaitatis
Safety Excellence on the Job
-David Eader, Safety Group
During the month of August, two
Riggs Distler Overhead Line crews
began work at a major Maryland power
supplier’s substation. They were under
the direction of Foremen William (Tip)
Tipton and Christopher (Shawn) Tipton, two very experienced employees
in the Over Head Group. Each crew
consisted of a Small Job Foreman, a
Journeyman and 2 Apprentices. Our
customer had expectations that the
five print job from the substation in
Howard County to the Montgomery
County line would be completed by
October 1st. The crews not only met
the requirements of the customer, but
worked without any injuries, incidents,
outages, or customer complaints. They
moved into the additional three print
Montgomery County portion of the job
prior to the expected start date and are
currently ahead of schedule.
Above from L to R: Lawrence Parrish, Bryon Eader, Christopher Tipton,
Dennis Bush, Jay Queer, William Tipton, Josh Bare, Josh Hayghe. Not pictured: Bill Hayghe, Brett Banghart, and General Foreman Vinnie Vietri.
To offer an overview of the scope of
work, the following are some of the
tasks performed: 58,200’ of 336 wire
installed & 58,200’ of #2 wire removed; 27 poles (50’ & 55’) installed
and transferred; 3 poles cut and kicked;
2 regulators installed; 3 disconnect
switches installed; transfer of load from
old to new before removal; worked under State Highway permit restrictions
of 9am – 3pm; and utilized contract
flag persons daily. The crews were also
responsible for setting up their own
WAP (Work Area Protection) daily.
Continuous Training is Routine for Riggs Distler Crews
-Manfred Konrath, Vice President, Underground Utilities
Above: Instructor Steve Didier explains
how to use fault locating and tracing
equipment. Steve has been with Riggs for
over 18 years.
Far right: Thursday’s class gets a first
hand look at proper fault locating technique.
Street Light Fault Locating
classes were held at the White Marsh
Training Area on November 9th and
10th. The class, designed and taught
by Riggs’ own Steve Didier, outlined
fault locating techniques from the
fundamental basics through more
complicated scenarios – all with an
emphasis on safety. The proper use,
care, and maintenance of locating
and cable tracing equipment was
taught, as well as the correct applications and limitations of each.
The training was attended by Ray
Ladzinski, Jose Guilarte, Ron Tobar,
Chris Cullings, Michael Martino,
Durrell Wooden, and Wayne Gerbes
on Thursday, November 9th. Friday’s class was attended by Greg
Trotta, Nemiah Harris, Clint
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Kestner, Stewart Thornton, Chance
Canterbury, and David Brune. The
classes were also visited by several
representatives from an area power
supplier.
Periodic hands on training
classes such as this one ensure that
Riggs Distler is providing the best
and most highly trained workforce
for our clients.
Project News
Our Crews are Key to Contract Renewals
-Manfred Konrath, Vice President, Underground Utilities
Great news from the Underground! We were just renewed for
a 6 year period on a Primary Cable
Replacement Contract for a major
East Coast utility. This contract includes replacing primary distribution cable by means of directional
boring and excavating. It also
covers replacing secondary service
cables to residential, commercial,
and industrial customers on an
emergency basis. I would like to
thank Foremen Paul Hanlin, Ralph
Young, Dan Aronhalt, Ken Kessler,
Joey Perry and their crews, as well
as General Foreman Tim Harris,
whose outstanding efforts were
instrumental in the renewal.
Diversity in Our Work
Paul Bizon, Vice President, Electrical Group
instrumentation cables. After finishing the tray we will install the cables
for the high voltage switch gear and
controls to operate a 33,000HP, 5KV
Blower motor. We will also install the
main instrumentation homerun cables
and equipment, plus the lighting and
power on the “L” structure. The “L”
structure is the main portion of this
unit, consisting of 12 levels and is 287’
high.
At a Philadelphia area chemical
manufacturer, our work consists of installing new alarm notification devices
Trivia Question
Q: Who invented the first light bulb and when was it invented?
A: The first electric light was
made in 1800 by Humphry
Davy, an English scientist.
Many people believe it was
Thomas Edison, who actually
improved upon the almost 80
year old idea.
Presently we are showing real
diversity in our scope of work. Several
ongoing and finished projects range
from high-end condominium buildings
to designing and building new power
and instrumentation controls for a
client’s new production line.
In downtown Philadelphia, we are
currently working on a hotel to condominium conversion. The work consists
of construction and renovation of 108
high end condominiums and common
areas on the 14th through 21st floors of
the existing hotel structure. The lower
floors of this historic structure will remain functional as a hotel. This project
has been in negotiation since February.
We are currently completing another
condominium project in the Philadelphia area. This project entails the
installation of conduits in the elevated
concrete deck of a parking garage associated with a new condominium development by a prestigious builder. To
date we have installed approximately
40,000’ of conduit.
A Philadelphia refinery is keeping
us busy, as we have been awarded two
new projects. The work involves installing large quantities of various sizes
of cable tray for power, control, and
Above: General Foreman Tim Harris and
Foreman Joey Perry in the process replacing
cable that had been torn out of the pad
mounted equipment by another contractor.
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throughout the entire facility. Our new
strobes and sirens will tie into the existing fire alarm system.
Another major chemical manufacturer in the Philadelphia area kept us
busy as we worked on their fall outage.
The work involved eliminating several
old substations and providing more
reliable power from newer equipment.
The work required extensive planning
to best utilize our work force during
the limited 8 hour power outage the
customer provided. We had to reroute
many aerial feeders and safe-off many
others for future demolition needs.
In Southern New Jersey we installed the instrumentation, power,
and controls for a new production line
that provides the raw material for a
manufacturer of cement based shingles
and siding products. This was essentially a design/build project, as it was
constructed as a fast track schedule.
Much of the engineering followed our
installation, requiring us to anticipate
how the system would operate and
foresee how to make it functional. The
client is extremely pleased with the
final product and our ability to adjust to
their needs.
Employee News
Mission to Africa
Two of our Philadelphia electricians, Matt Connelly and Kurt Taylor
recently returned from a two week trip
to George, South Africa, where they
did missionary work with a church.
George is located approximately one
hour east of Cape Town, surrounded
by the Outeniqua Mountains to the
north and the Indian Ocean to the
south. Though a developed part of
Africa, they did observe a variety of
wildlife and were awed by the amazing scenery. Matt will be returning at
the end of this month for another two
week trip.
‘Tis the Season to Give
On the Mechanical Side
-Steve Haller, Vice President, Mechanical Group
We have reached a major milestone
here at the Fluid Catalytic Cracking
Unit of an important Mid Atlantic fuel
producer. The top rings, cone, and
stack of the absorber have all been
set, marking the end of the structural erection. Congratulations to all
involved for a job well done thus far.
Everyone’s hard work and long hours
spent in getting to this point are greatly
appreciated!
Though we have accomplished a
tremendous amount of the work, this
project is far from over. We are now
This year, Riggs Distler would like
to give to those less fortunate during
the holiday season. We have chosen
to donate to The Ronald McDonald
House Charities as their mission is to
provide a “home away from home”
for families of seriously ill children
receiving treatment at nearby hospitals. More detailed information will
be forthcoming in your pay envelope
The past quarter has been a very
as to how you can help make this a
busy
one for Department 650, Overbrighter holiday for those in need.
head Distribution. Riggs Distler crews
We thank you in advance for your
recently completed large projects in
generosity and assistance.
Dover, DE and Berlin, NJ for a key energy holding company. This company
owns five subsidiaries and provides
power to almost 1.8 million customers,
making it one of the largest electricity
delivery companies in the mid-Atlantic
region. Additionally for this company,
our crews have begun a large PAC
cable project, with another to follow in
the St. Georges County, MD area.
This year may not have been an
active hurricane season, but the Over
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at a critical point in the progress of the
job, and there is still much work to be
done. The internals have to be packed,
completion and testing of the piping
systems, and building the FD fans and
duct work which are required for the tie
in outage on November 27th. Not to
mention welding out the stack itself!
Left: The stack is carefully set
into place on the absorber.
Above: An intricate web of pipe
work sits atop of the recycle tank.
What an impressive web of work.
Powering Up from the Garden State to the Sun Shine State
-Steve Zemaitatis, Operations Manager, Over Head Utilities
We Support
Our Troops
Head crews in Ft. Lauderdale are
keeping busy. They recently began an
extensive concrete pole project for a
leading producer and supplier of electricity in Florida and will begin a second concrete pole job later this month.
Also later this month, a reconductoring
project for a Southern New Jersey
power supplier is set to begin.
Riggs Distler anticipates a very
busy 2007, as we are currently negotiating with two major utility companies
- one in the South and one in the Midwest. The negotiations are for longterm overhead distribution contracts.