dISmANTlING THE JETSTAR

A quarterly Publication for Employees of Weeks Marine
SPRING 2013
dismantling
The JetStar
Build Hawaii Awards Banquet
Quarterly Safety
Awards
Weeks Marine Projects
2
McNally Projects
4
ENR TOP CONTRACTORS
5
Awards
6
Employee Tidings
Outstanding Safety
Performance
Angel Cruz Retirement
Weeks Marine is an equal opportunity employer.
The AGC/Willis Construction
Safety Excellence Award
15
Weeks Marine Projects
dismantling
The JetStar
May 19, 2013
Weeks Marine, hauler of space shuttles, 9/11 debris
and crash-landed planes, dismantles roller coaster
Courtesy of:
Excerpted from an article By Stacy Jones Pate The Star-Ledger
The JetStar roller coaster had become an
unofficial monument to Hurricane Sandy’s
power before it was pulled from the ocean with
a clamshell crane and dropped in pieces onto
a barge.
Demolition equipment had been waiting
near the Seaside Heights Beach long before
work began on Tuesday. Crews needed serene
conditions — flat water and an easy breeze
— before they could start an operation that
needed to be done in one shot.
In a project that began just after noon and
continued through the night, the coaster was
completely removed by Wednesday morning.
“We needed to get to this and people needed
a visual to see what’s going on,” Seaside
Heights Mayor Bill Akers told assembled press
on Tuesday as the demolition began.
New York City subway cars to the bottom of the
ocean as a manmade reef.
Difficult tasks, like how to remove an
amusement ride marooned by a hurricane, have
become a regular part of Richard Weeks’s role
as president of the Cranford-based dredging
company his great-grandfather founded in
1919. People might not recognize the name
Weeks Marine, but almost everyone has seen its
cranes, barges and tug boats.
Since its two-crane start almost 100
years ago, the company has grown into an
international operation that has outposts in
the Gulf of Mexico, Hawaii, along the East
Coast and in Canada and employs about 1,200
people. Starting in the 1950s, the company
began acquiring competitors and adding their
equipment to what’s now a global fleet.
Weeks Marine hauled debris away from the
World Trade Center after the Sept. 11 attacks,
salvaged the US Airways plane that Capt.
Chesley Sullenberger landed in the Hudson
River, carried NASA’s Space Shuttle Enterprise
from John F. Kennedy Airport to the Intrepid Sea,
Air & Space Museum and sent hundreds of old
Weeks machines have traveled as far as
South America, Europe and Guam to build,
salvage, demolish and replenish natural or
manmade structures.
2
A Dun & Bradstreet report published in
February showed that in 2011 Weeks saw
revenue of $475 million.
Weeks Marine Projects
“We have built more of a backlog, which is
encouraging, and have some really challenging
work in front of us. If we can execute, we’ll be
okay. That’s the theme of this year: execution,”
Weeks said during an interview with The StarLedger on Friday. “We’re making sure our
resources are where they need to be. We’re
careful of how we manage risk. Last year was
more focused on finding work, now we need
to execute.”
The nature of the $2.2 billion U.S. dredging
industry requires Weeks to book projects long
before they begin and manage a complicated
travel schedule that has large, specialized
pieces of equipment spending weeks or
months traveling to job sites.
The firm has a lot of beach replenishment
work lined up for the remainder of 2013, some
of it thanks to Sandy. It involves taking sand
from nearby inlets or offshore areas and using
it to replenish eroded beaches.
In June, a dredge named after Richard
Weeks himself will be in Absecon to replenish
1.7 million yards of beach. Then it will head
down to Cape May to do the same for another
million yards of coastline.
Although Weeks was not part of the team
that won the $3.1 billion contract to replace
the Tappan Zee Bridge, it did win a contract to
do dredging work associated with the project.
“The trick there is we have a three-month
window. We start on August 1 and have to be
out by the end of October,” Weeks said. “We’re
mobilizing equipment for that work now,
bringing barges up from the Gulf.”
In an industry that relies so heavily on huge
one-of-a-kind pieces of equipment, Weeks
often teams up with the same companies it
competes against.
“My father told me when I was young that
enemies were an expensive luxury,” he said.
“In our business you find yourself in situations
3
where with a little bit of effort you can save
someone a whole lot of money and you do it.”
For the $1.5 billion public-private
replacement of the Goethals Bridge, the Port
Authority of New York and New Jersey selected
the NYNJ Link Partnership which includes
Weeks and his sometime-competitors Macquarie
Infrastructure of Australia, Kiewit Development of
Nebraska and Massman Construction of Missouri.
“The replacement of the Goethals Bridge is
a historic undertaking for the Port Authority,”
said Port Authority Chairman David Samson
in a release. He called the public-private
partnership a “groundbreaking” move that
frees up resources for other transportation
infrastructure projects.
For all its high profile work, Weeks said he
regards his company and its employees as
stewards of the environment.
“Growth is not an objective for us,” he said,
“it’s a consequence of doing things right.”
McNallY Projects
mattress construction. The 36m long x 15m
wide x 16.3m high caissons were constructed
on site and included a total slip height of 230m,
24,350 cubic meters of 35mpa concrete and
2,700 tons of reinforcing steel. A caisson
completed weekly was slipped continuously
according to a 24 hour per day, 5 day week
schedule. The completed floating caissons
were subsequently towed to their respective
location and ballasted with water and lowered
to rest on the completed rock mattress.
Permanent Caisson Ballast
Halifax Port
Pier 9C Project
Halifax, Nova Scotia
The Port of Halifax has had its ups and
downs in the cargo-handling business in the
past several years. But the cyclical nature
of the industry has not deterred the Halifax
Port Authority, private interests and Ottawa
from moving forward with Multimillion-dollar
infrastructure enhancements at the port.
The Port of Halifax is a diverse cargo port,
so the focus of the Halifax Port Authority and the
private sector and now the federal government
has been to invest heavily in recent years in
the port’s diverse infrastructure to ensure it
remains a highly competitive port in all the
forms of cargo.
The two most recent major projects at the
port have been the $35 million extension of
the SouthEnd Container Terminal, operated
by Halterm Container Terminal Ltd. and the $73
million project at Richmond Terminals to create
a modern breakbulk facility.
The port authority sees a strong future in its
breakbulk cargo business and the Richmond
Terminals project will make Halifax more
competitive in that sector. The expansion and
modernization project includes updating and
refurbishing storage sheds for warehouse
space, the extension and expansion of piers,
and the development of a large lay-down area.
The $20 Million contract for construction of
the 450m expansion at Pier 9C was awarded to
McNally in early March 2012 and by September
had grown in scope to include an additional
75m of pier length for a total expansion of
approximately 525m and a total contract value
in excess of $23 Million.
The primary scope of work for the project
included the following;
Slip Form Construction
and Mobilization
Mobilization including the construction of
the slip forms necessary for construction of
the caissons commenced in early April and
was completed at the Point Tupper marine
yard concurrently with marine plant equipment
preparations. In early May the forms were
constructed and the marine equipment was
mobilized to the Halifax Harbour site.
Mattress Construction
Dredging of the soft sediments within the
footprint of new pier location was completed by
another contractor (Phase 1) prior to McNally’s
arrival to site which allowed for rock mattress
construction to commence immediately. A total
of 110,000 tons of locally quarried rock was
hauled by truck to the site where it was loaded
into bottom dump scows, towed to location and
placed on the seabed in thicknesses ranging
from 1m to 8m depending on the seabed
contours. Once placed, the rock mattress was
screeded using McNally’s Derrick No. 3 to the
design elevation of -14.0m. The mattress was
completed over a period of 3 months.
Concrete Caisson Construction
Construction of the 14 reinforced concrete
caissons commenced concurrently with
4
Soon after positioning of the caissons on
the rock mattress the caissons were filled
with crushed rock permanent ballast. The
installation of the permanent ballast on most
recent caisson projects required the use of
barge mounted crane loading the caissons with
rock by clamshell bucket, however the pier 9C
site lent itself well to adopting a new method of
ballasting by utilizing a 150’ telescopic radial
stacker which was loaded by a secondary feed
conveyor from shore. This method significantly
reduced the associated equipment and
manpower requirements. A total of 160,000
tons of ballast rock was installed into the
caissons working single shifts, 5 days a week
over a period of approximately 3 months.
Marine Demolition
A particularly challenging component of the
project included the marine demolition of an
existing timber crib pier structure built in 1941.
Over 300 ton of creosote timber was removed
from the surface to the seabed and placed on
shore for disposal off site. Demolition of the
existing crib was necessary to clear the footprint
area necessary for the final and 14th caisson.
After nearly 50,000 man hours of work
the Pier 9C project was completed ahead of
schedule and under budget. The success of
the project can be attributed to combination
of excellent MCI/Client and MCI/union
coordination and cooperation, a highly skilled
and experienced group of field supervisions
and a dedicated well organized project
management team. The completed project is
one that all involved should be proud of with
the Halifax Port Authority declaring McNally to
be the preferred marine contractor.
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2012 REVENUE ($ MIL) 2012 NEW
CONTRACTS
TOTAL
INT'L
RANK
2013 2012 FIRM
G
NG
The Top 400 Contractors
101
82 B.L. HARBERT INTERNATIONAL LLC, Birmingham, Ala.
582.1
449.0
707.3
93
5
0
2
0
0
0
0
0
102
86 CONTRACK INTERNATIONAL INC., McLean, Va.
581.2
581.2
171.6
46
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
103
70 DUKE CONSTRUCTION, Indianapolis, Ind.
573.3
0.0
497.3
98
1
0
0
0
2
0
0
42
104
94 THE MCSHANE COS., Rosemont, Ill. †
569.6
0.0
572.9
100
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
11
105
87 HASKELL, Jacksonville, Fla. †
568.3
18.2
432.0
21
17
0
6
54
2
0
0
6
106 203 WEEKS MARINE INC., Cranford, N.J.†
107
99 BIG-D CONSTRUCTION CORP., Salt Lake City, Utah †
566.5 112.4
0
NA
0
0
0
0
40
0
60
0
0
0
563.7
0.0
515.0
57
6
0
0
0
0
0
28
56
108 123 MWH GLOBAL, Broomfield, Colo. †
551.5
236.3
196.6
1
0
0
98
0
0
0
0
55
109 111 GRAYCOR, Oakbrook Terrace, Ill. †
542.2
0.0
322.2
15
15
18
0
52
0
0
0
25
537.5
436.0
424.8
70
0
2
3
15
8
1
0
11
535.0
0.0
607.0
100
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
100
110
93 LAKESHORE TOLTEST CORP., Detroit, Mich. †
111 108 KRAUS-ANDERSON CONSTRUCTION CO., Minneapolis, Minn.
112 102 NABHOLZ CONSTRUCTION CORP., Conway, Ark.
531.1
0.0
444.0
81
2
0
0
4
4
0
9
58
113 113 JINGOLI-DCO, Lawrenceville, N.J. †
528.0
102.0
447.0
12
0
87
1
0
0
0
0
35
114 129 VCC LLC, Irving, Texas
525.0
0.0
695.0
100
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
115 104 BERNARDS, San Fernando, Calif.
521.3
0.0
497.0
100
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
42
116 117 AMERICAN INFRASTRUCTURE, Worcester, Pa. †
517.0
0.0
896.5
0
0
0
31
4
65
0
0
0
117 140 KITCHELL CORP., Phoenix, Ariz. †
515.5
0.0
380.6
94
0
5
0
0
0
0
0
97
25
118 115 MIRON CONSTRUCTION CO. INC., Neenah, Wis.
514.8
0.0
424.0
53
3
5
7
32
0
0
0
119 198 BMWC GROUP INC., Indianapolis, Ind. †
502.0
0.0
100.0
0
3
5
0
91
0
0
0
0
120 119 EMJ CORP., Chattanooga, Tenn. †
502.0
0.0
301.0
77
2
21
0
0
0
0
0
83
121 112 STELLAR, Jacksonville, Fla.
501.1
99.9
501.1
13
0
21
0
66
0
0
0
0
122 122 F.A. WILHELM CONSTRUCTION CO. INC., Indianapolis, Ind. †
494.2
0.0
275.0
38
5
5
8
43
0
0
0
42
123 137 GARNEY HOLDING CO., Kansas City, Mo. †
493.7
0.0
740.6
0
0
0
100
0
0
0
0
26
124 116 CHOATE CONSTRUCTION CO., Atlanta, Ga.
488.3
0.0
488.3
80
2
0
5
12
1
0
0
90
125 120 MCGOUGH CONSTRUCTION, St. Paul, Minn. †
484.0
0.0
442.5
95
0
0
0
0
0
0
5
64
The Top 50 Contractors Working Abroad
RANK
2013
REVENUE
IN $ MIL.
RANK
2013
REVENUE
IN $ MIL.
RANK
2013
REVENUE
IN $ MIL.
1 BECHTEL
23,255.0
18 FLATIRON CONSTRUCTION CORP.
404.3
35 THE WALSH GROUP LTD.
147.5
2 FLUOR CORP.
17,209.6
19 ALBERICI CORP.
365.5
36 THE LAUREN CORP.
142.7
3 PCL CONSTRUCTION ENTERPRISES INC.
5,295.5
20 AEGION CORP.
353.2
37 TUTOR PERINI CORP.
129.7
4 KBR
4,330.0
21 AMEC
339.2
38 PERNIX GROUP INC.
114.8
5 CB&I
3,503.6
22 THE SHAW GROUP INC.
315.0
39 GREAT LAKES DREDGE & DOCK CORP.
112.9
292.2
6 KIEWIT CORP.
3,239.2
23 WILLBROS GROUP INC.
7 MCDERMOTT INTERNATIONAL INC.
2,679.9
24 LAYNE CHRISTENSEN CO.
254.0
8 FOSTER WHEELER AG
2,618.7
25 CHINA CONSTRUCTION AMERICA
241.0
41 INFRASTRUCTURE AND ENERGY ALTERN.
103.0
9 JACOBS
2,087.1
26 MWH GLOBAL
236.3
42 JINGOLI - DCO
102.0
913.7
27 INGENIUM INTERNATIONAL INC.
216.7
43 STELLAR
99.9
749.4
28 GILBANE BUILDING CO.
193.7
44 SKANSKA USA
90.8
10 URS CORP.
11 BLACK & VEATCH
40 WEEKS MARINE INC.
112.4
12 THE TURNER CORP.
730.6
29 CADDELL CONSTRUCTION CO. INC.
183.0
45 MCM
87.6
13 CONTRACK INTERNATIONAL INC.
581.2
30 CH2M HILL
172.6
46 MICHELS CORP.
74.4
14 ECC
504.1
31 STRUCTURE TONE
167.4
47 THE YATES COS. INC.
73.7
15 B.L. HARBERT INTERNATIONAL LLC
449.0
32 OHL USA INC.
164.9
48 PARSONS
69.4
16 LAKESHORE TOLTEST CORP.
436.0
33 DCK WORLDWIDE LLC
160.0
49 MATRIX SERVICE CO.
63.0
17 THE BABCOCK & WILCOX CO.
416.7
34 RAILWORKS CORP.
160.0
50 AMERICAN BRIDGE CO. INC.
59.6
5
Weeks Marine Projects
Schuylkill
River Pedestrian
Boardwalk
Philadelphia, PA
Duration: Sep 2012 - Apr 2013
Weeks Marine has installed the drilled
shafts for an expansion boardwalk for the
Schuylkill River Trail. WMI worked as a drilled
shaft subcontractor to Crossing Construction
Company. Our project included installing 21
drilled caissons in the Schuylkill River, 60”
diameter with 48” rock sockets. Also included,
were 5 drilled caissons on the land, to connect
a transverse vehicle bridge, the South St.
Bridge, to the boardwalk. All drilled shafts
have 60” permanent casing into the rock
socket, and 2 part reinforcement cages. The
project started with one test caisson on the
water, utilizing a 24” Osterberg load cell. This
resulted in a decrease of rock socket length
on most of the caissons in the water. Tight
horizontal tolerances combined with tough
riverbed conditions made this a challenging
job. Shafts were excavated with WMI’s Bauer
BG28, and WMI 668 Manitowoc 4100 with a
Hain Drilling Attachment Tool. Support rigs WMI
605 Linkbelt LS518 and WMI 665 Manitowoc
4000 were on site for material handling and
concrete placement. The job was completed at
the end of April, 2013.
Healy Tibbitts Builders Award
Healy Tibbitts Builders, Inc. receives Grand Award
at the 2013 Annual Build Hawaii Awards Banquet
By Kenta Okada
On the night of April 6th 2013 at the famous
Hilton Hawaiian Village Hotel in Waikiki, Healy
Tibbitts Builders, Inc., became the recipient of
the Grand Award and the winner of 3 Award
of Excellence in 3 categories during the annual
2013 Build Hawaii Awards banquet.
For the past 10 years the General Contractors
Association (GCA) of Hawaii has organized the
Annual Build Hawaii Awards Banquet. The
banquet “showcases the best of the best
construction projects in Hawaii.”
The award banquet presented 56 entries
from 23 companies in 22 project categories.
All entries were construction projects within
the state of Hawaii during the year 2012. Each
of the 22 categories has one winner taking
home the “Award of Excellence” and the Grand
Award is judged and announced at the very
end of the award presentation from the entire
pool of 56 entries.
HTBI submitted 3 entries in 3 categories;
Federal Construction Less Than $30 Million,
Specialty Construction Less than $500
thousand and Specialty Construction $1 - $3
Million. The names of the HTBI projects for
the respective entry categories were; Critical
Repair of Kalaupapa Dock Structures, Recovery
and Removal of the offshore Portion of the 12
6
inch HDPE Pipeline and the Waikiki Beach
maintenance project.
HTBI was the recipient of the Award of
Excellence for all 3 categories, moreover, the
Critical Repair of Kalaupapa Dock Structures
Project was chosen for the Grand Award.
You may remember the project shown in the
October 2012 issue. This will be HTBI’s 3rd
consecutive year in receiving the Hawaii Build
Grand Award.
Needless to say everyone attending the
banquet from HTBI was in good spirit; another
job well done for the entire HTBI team and
good luck next year at the 2014 Build Hawaii
Awards.
In the picture are recipients of the 2013
Grand Award from left to right; Rick Heltzel,
Art Lambert, Marnie Hursty (GCA President),
Todd Padia and Emmett Kinney.
Safety Awards
The AGC/Willis Construction
Safety Excellence Award
From left to right: AGC Rep., Jason Iwamasa, Emilio Placencia, Emmett Kinney, Rick Heltzel, and AGC Rep.
`
March 2 Thru 8 2013
Healy Tibbitts Builders was the proud FIRST PLACE WINNER in
the Federal Heavy Division with 100,001 – 300,000 man hours.
The AGC/Willis Construction Safety Excellence
Award (CSEA) is a national award given with the
purpose of recognizing companies who have
developed and implemented leading edge safety
programs which are above and beyond the
standard. The award is also meant to promote
companies to continually improve their existing
programs and systems.
3.
Michael Sterrett – Consultant with
40 years of experience
way Healy Tibbitts lives commitment and values
as opposed to just talking about it.
4.
Richard Wright – Chief Safety and
Occupational Health for the US Army
Core of Engineers
The awards program is based around three
distinct themes
From March 2 through March 8 2013, Rick
Heltzel, President; Emmett Kinney, Vice
President; Emilio Placencia, Vice President;
and Jason Iwamasa, Division Safety Manager
flew up to Palm Springs California to represent
Healy Tibbitts at the Annual AGC convention.
A total of 65 companies were competing
for first place in 29 divisions. There was also
competition for the overall national winner. In
2009, Healy Tibbitts took second place in their
division and first place in 2010. In 2011, Healy
Tibbitts walked away with the first place trophy
in their division with the goal to win the first
place overall in the future.
1.Direct evidence of upper management/
owner commitment
2. Worker training
3. Active participation throughout the company
Finalists are given the opportunity to give an
oral presentation in front of a panel of judges.
This year’s judges consisted of the following.
1.
Mike Fredebeil – Willis Insurance,
Construction Risk Control/Safety
2.
Bill Parsons – Air Force Chief of
Ground Safety
5.
Bob Fitzgerald – Manager – Safety
and Health at Southern Company
The presentation consisted of a brief
description of the company and what the
company does, followed by a brief description
of the safety program. The majority of the
presentation consisted of a description of our
IIF journey, the initiatives, and the overall goal
of creating a work environment where workers
go home feeling better than when they arrived.
What made the presentation special was the
7
This award would not have been possible
without the creative imagination of Peter Lee,
who put the various ideas of the presentation
into fruition. Acknowledgement also goes to
both Cristian Caicedo and Ivan Lee, who are
both Project Managers, for their key efforts in
completing our successful applications. More
importantly, this award would not have been
possible without the commitment by everyone
in our organization, from the deck plate level
to the executive level and back, in keeping
ourselves and our fellow co-workers safe.
SAFETY AWARDS
Lowell
Naho’opi’i
Benny
Jacobs
Quarterly Safety Award
Congratulations to our 2012, 4th quarter
award recipient; Lowell Naho’opi’i. Lowell
was nominated for his work on the Aegis Ashore
Missile Defense Testing Complex Project.
Healy Tibbitts’ primary role on the Aegis
Project consisted of installing up to eighty nine
production drilled shafts. The size of the drilled
shafts ranged from 2 to 5 ft in diameter and
depths ranged from 10 to 50 ft from existing
grade. The 89 drilled shafts are designed to
provide deep foundation support for various
structures to be built on the project.
The following are some details on the drilled
shaft operation on the Aegis Project. The main
activities included in the drilled shaft operation
consisted of handling/installing temporary
steel casing, drilling/clean-out of the shaft’s
location, handling/placement of the shaft’s
rebar cage, placement of the tremie concrete,
and removal of the temporary steel casing. The
equipment utilized for the various activities
mentioned above consisted of a P&H Crawler
Crane, Watson 3100 Drill Rig (subcontract),
APE 150 Vibratory Hammer, and site support
equipment. The crew on the drilled shaft
operation consisted of a 6-man crew; 2-men
from Foundation International, Inc. and 4-men
from Healy Tibbitts. The job was successfully
completed in a two month period from August
2012 thru late October 2012.
Lowell was nominated for the Quarterly
Safety Award as he consistently demonstrated
his action of “watching-out” for his coworkers. Time after time Lowell would warn
others during the setting of rebar cages to clear
others out of the way of potential pinch points
well in advance. Healy Tibbitts completed the
drilled shaft operation without an incident in
challenging conditions. The site condition was
sandy and often cumbersome to work in. There
was heavy lifting, equipment movement in tight
places and coordination with other subs during
drilled shaft construction. The Aegis Project
team thanks Lowell for contributing beyond
the call of duty in keeping everyone safe in a
challenging construction environment.
Other nominees included, Ricky Cabral,
Justin Saragosa, Allen Hedge, and Keali’I
Kekawa.
A big Congratulation also goes to Benny
Jacobs who is our 1st Quarter 2013 award
winner. Benny Jacobs was nominated for
his work on preparations for the NELHA 40
Transition Section Upgrades Project.
The NELHA (Natural Energy Laboratory of
Hawaii Authority) is operating a 40” intake pipe
which draws deep sea water from around
3000 ft below sea level. The deep sea water is
sold to various entities as unique resources for
various ventures within the complex. This 40”
intake line is designed to hold a specific pipe
curvature to avoid abrupt kinks in the pipeline.
Due to a sudden change in the slope of the
ocean floor along the pipe route, the middle
8
section of the pipe line is suspended in mid
water to keep this specific curvature. As an
example, shore end and the deep sea portion of
the pipe is anchored to the bottom of the ocean
floor, however, the middle portion is suspended
in mid water via a series of floatation and a
“hold back” system. In recent years the state
(NELHA) has found evidence of limited failure
in the floatation/”hold back” system. Healy is
tasked to restore the floatation/”hold back”
system so that the correct curvature of the 40”
pipeline can be maintained.
In order to do this, HTBI is teaming up with
Global diving to perform deep water pipeline
repairs. HTBI will support global diving’s
working class Remotely Operated Vehicles by
providing surface platforms and equipment.
The Global diving will be fabricating
specialized deep water tools and replacement
floatation/”hold back” system; ultimately using
them to resurrect the failed system.
A project such as this takes a lot of planning
and mobilization. The heavy planning and
mobilization is crucial in reducing risks
during the actual deep water work. The cost
of standby for a full HTBI/Global Diving spread
working 24/7 in two 12 hr shifts is enormous.
Heavy mobilization which Benny Jacobs was
involved in will help the project run smoother
and safer during the repair work.
Benny is one of Healy Tibbitts’ most
experienced laborers and it shows as he
consistently takes the time to ensure he has
all the required protective equipment for each
task he is assigned. He is also very conscious
of his surroundings and always takes pride in
good housekeeping. He is not afraid to share
his wealth of knowledge with other members
of the workgroup, and always warns them
of the not so obvious potential hazardous
situations, this is also true when he sees that a
supervisor might be in harm’s way. He has truly
embraced the IIF way of performing work from
program inception. Benny is the well deserved
1st quarter Safety Award Reciepient.
Other nominees included Jim Halladay,
Ricky Inouye, and Teddy Polendey.
SAFETY AWARDS
Carlos Pagan
Camden Yard
Gerry Cosgrove
Schuylkill River Project
Joe Palma
Mantua Creek Paulsboro Crane Derailment
Fred Friedman
Global Wharf Project
Caroline Peddle received the Construction Division 2012 Annual Safety Award for outstanding
safety performance during the year.
Towing AWARD
Paul Sandner – Master of the Alexandra
is the winner for the safety award. Captain
Sandner has worked on the west coast for
the past several years aboard the Thomas
and Alexandra supporting both Healy Tibbitt’s
in Hawaii and Guam as well as our outside
customer Dutra Dredging on various projects
from the Columbia River, LA/Long Beach,
and San Francisco. He has demonstrated
outstanding
leadership
skills,
great
seamanship, and a full commitment to our IIF
culture. He is currently aboard the Alexandra
towing the ship “Great Land” from Tacoma,
Washington to Brownsville, Texas and truly
deserves to be recognized for the outstanding
job he has done for Weeks Marine.
Towing Award
By Rudy Wohl
9
Safety Awards
10
Safety Awards
AWARD:
Traylor
Massman
WEEKS
Joint Venture
IHNC (Inner Harbor Navigation Channel) Floodwall – New Orleans, Louisiana
The surge barrier is built across Lake Borgne and was in the crosshairs of Hurricane Isaac last August. The city’s life depended on the
performance of what locals are calling The Great Wall of New Orleans. Each of the 17 activities on the barrier project had to advance 48 ft per
day, including driving vertical piles, batter piles and infill piles.
`
2013 Award of Excellence
Winner Wayne E. Jones
Weeks Marine would like to congratulate Wayne on his Award
of Excellence 2013 and for his achievements during the
IHNC-Floodwall project. We wish him much success with this
acknowledgement by ENR and look forward to seeing him on
possible future joint ventures. Joint venture team consisted of
Weeks Marine, Traylor Brothers, and Massman.
Jones, a project manager with Traylor Bros, prepared an inventive construction
process for critical storm defenses that protect the most vulnerable flank of the City of
New Orleans.
`
11
Safety Awards
Vertical pile driving moved both north and
south. One crew used the barge-mounted,
Weeks EQ 526 ringer crane shown here.
`
Jones devised a rail-mounted, rolling template to guide the two sections spliced into 295-ftlong batter piles. Acting as angled braces behind every other vertical pile, the batter piles
“stitch” the earth
`
An enormous, gated battlement now stands
of Wayne E. Jones, a project manager at
whose work required precision interfacing
guard on the eastern side of New Orleans. It
Traylor Bros. Inc. Traylor was the lead company
with other subcontractors on the Inner Harbor
protects the city’s most vulnerable flank from
in Traylor-Massman-Weeks, the joint venture
Navigation Channel (IHNC) Storm Surge Barrier
the storm surge of hurricanes. Less than a
selected by prime contractor Shaw Environmental
in New Orleans, Engineering News-Record has
year old, the barrier already has repelled one
& Infrastructure to build the wall. After
chosen Jones as ENR’s Award of Excellence
invader, Hurricane Isaac, whose raging seas
TMW won the award, “Mr. Jones,” as he is
winner for 2013. The monumental, 10,000-ft-
assaulted it last August with a height of about
universally known on his jobsites, carried on as
long, 26-ft-tall surge barrier built across Lake
15 feet, comparable to the effects of Hurricane
lead project manager through an extraordinary
Borgne was in the crosshairs of Hurricane
Katrina, which sacked the city in 2005.
project to execute the plan and deliver the wall
Isaac, and the city’s life depended on the
ahead of schedule, on budget and in time to
performance of what locals are calling “The
resist Hurricane Isaac’s forces.
Great Wall of New Orleans.”
The methodology used to construct the wall
that forms the backbone of the barrier was
based on a highly detailed and imaginative
For his creativity in planning, skills in
plan that drew on the creativity and experience
execution and leadership of a complex team
12
Safety Awards
from the effects of hypothermia and was
still entangled with the pickup line that was
tethered to the discharge assembly. As the
wind and seas battered the crew deploying the
rescue boat, it also pushed the dredge on top
of Michael and he went underwater and under
the vessel. When alerted of Michael going
under the ship, Captain Arey immediately put
the propellers in full astern to back away from
Michael.
Man Overboard!
While performing a routine deck task that has been done countless
times during beach discharge operations on the dredge B.E. Lindholm,
the events that unfolded at approximately 4:55 AM on April 12 will
forever be burned into the memories of the crew members who were
engaged in a man overboard incident and the successful recovery of
a fellow crewmember.
During beach nourishment discharge
operations, our two hopper dredges (RN Weeks
& BE Lindholm) discharge sand to the beach
via a floating hose connection and submerged
pipeline. In order to connect to the floating
hose, crewmembers must retrieve a floating
polypro line that is connected to a connection
wire terminating at the floating hose steel
connection. After discharge operations are
complete, the crewmembers must disconnect
the vessel from the floating hose steel
connection by letting the steel wire, then
the floating polypro line pay back out, as the
vessel backs slowly away from the discharge
connection location. The connection and
disconnect operations are always performed
by a team of two deck crewmembers.
On this morning the two crewmembers
were Michael Jean and Donald Keech
performing the disconnect operation. Like
countless operations performed previously,
after completing discharge operations the
vessel was backing away while the pickup wire
and soft line were being payed out. Donald was
giving the bridge officer radio instructions but
somehow Michael inadvertently got his leg
caught in the bight of the soft line and became
entangled. In seconds Michael was overboard
and Donald was informing Tim Maginn the
bridge officer of the situation. Immediately Tim
sounded the general alarm and the crew was
alerted to the situation. Donald threw a life ring
to Michael as he struggled in the cold ocean,
still entangled by the line.
Immediately the crew sprang into action.
Captain Arey took the helm while Tim and the
rest of the crew were split into two teams,
one preparing to deploy the rescue boat and
the other preparing to retrieve Michael at the
boarding ladder. With strong winds and rough
sea conditions likely to limit a successful
deployment of the rescue boat, Captain Arey
maneuvered the vessel so that Michael was
alongside the starboard boarding ladder and
fellow crewmembers attempted to pull him
up. By this point Michael was already suffering
13
Working as a team, the crew was able to
deploy the rescue boat and Donald and Earl
West boarded the boat to rescue Michael.
Unable to find Michael at the surface, the
Captain told Donald and Earl to retrieve the
floating line that Michael was entangled
with. At just that moment, Michael popped
to the surface, face down in the water and
unconscious. Focused on retrieving Michael,
Donald and Earl were able to get Michael half
way into the boat, untangle him from the line,
and finally haul him into the boat. At this time,
Michael began to gain consciousness and was
rushed to the nearby shore by beaching the
rescue boat. At the shore, the beach fill crew
helped to get Michael into Project Manager
Paul Stewart’s truck and Paul drove him to a
nearby pickup point where an ambulance took
him to the local hospital. Fortunately Michael
only required a couple of days of testing
and observation at the hospital before being
released to resume his duties on the dredge.
The efforts of the well trained crew are a
testament to the need to practice safety drills
for the unexpected time that they will save
someone’s life.
Singled out by Captain Arey for the selfless
efforts, Donald Keech and Earl West were
presented with letters of commendation
written by Rich Weeks during an onboard
presentation by Steve Chatry and Tim
Weckwerth. Weeks Marine is very thankful for
the collective efforts of all crewmembers and
shore personnel involved in Michael’s success
story and are glad that Michael is safely back
on board the B.E Lindholm.
Safety Awards
Front & Center from Left to Right: Earl West, Michael Jean, & Donald Keech & the rest of the assisting crew
`
14
Employee tidings
Angel
Cruz
Retires
`Captain Kent Hambrecht presents Angel with a ships wheel retirement clock
`
Longtime welder of the Dredge B.E. Lindholm “Angel Cruz” retires from Weeks Marine on April 2, 2013
24 years ago Angel began his career as a
hopper dredge welder back in 1989 aboard the
Dredge “Ouachita” which was then owned by
Gulf Coast Trailing Company. When the dredge
was sold to Weeks Marine in 1998, Angel and
the rest of her crew came on and not too long
after the sale the vessel was renamed the B.E.
Lindholm. Angel could often be found filling
in for one of the AB’s when the dredge was
On June 1st, Mr. and Mrs. Richard S. Weeks
celebrated the marriage of their daughter,
Alexandra, to Cheyne Owens, at their home
in New Vernon. The happy couple returned
from a honeymoon in Croatia. Ali and Cheyne
are employed as architects and reside in New
York City.
short handed but was always happiest with a
welding lead in his hand. His days were filled
with an endless list of welding repairs and
general deck work that made his 3 week on
and 3 week off rotation go by quickly. Friends
and new acquaintances alike were always
greeted by Angel with a warm smile and a
welcoming handshake!
Angel and his wife Isabel call Brownsville,
Texas home. Angel and his wife have two
daughters. Angel plans to fill the coming days
of his well earned retirement by volunteering
at a local hospital/nursing home as well as
spending time with his family. After 24 years
at sea we all know he deserves it. All of his
shipmates and the Dredging Group staff wish
him much happiness in the days ahead!
Keith V. Mackenzie a Staff Engineer from the
Construction Division in NJ and Sherriann
Steadman got engaged on April 3rd, 2013 at
Yosemite National Park. There are no current
plans as to when and where, but we are sure
it will be as great as the proposal. Join us in
congratulating the happy couple.
Luis Soares, Executive Administrator in
Cranford, NJ, wife Jennifer, & son Lucas “big
brother” welcomed their new addition on
05/05/13 @ 3:30 a.m. Mia Grace was born
at St. Barnabas Hospital, weighing in at 6lbs.
7oz. Join us in congratulating this happy and
growing family.
`
A big congratulations goes out to the bride and
groom, may they have a lifetime of happiness!
15
Employee tidings
Congratulations to Rick MacDonald on the birth
of his 5th grandchild, Maddox, son of Tom and
Stephanie MacDonald. Please share our joy at
the arrival of Maddox.
It pleases us to announce that Eric Ellefsen
is the new dad of a beautiful baby girl, Sophia
Machado – 8lbs. 5oz., born 6/29. Mommy and
baby are doing great! All our congratulations
Eric, Ariene & big sister, Bella!
Jason Marchioni, General Manager-Marine
Services, and his wife, Dina, are the proud
parents of a baby girl, Siena Maria. Siena was
born at 12:15 a.m. July 9th, 6lbs., 10 oz., 19
inches. A big congratulation goes out to Jason
and Dina!
WEEKS MARINE BIGGEST LOSER
of our Construction Group, who lost a very
impressive 11.81% of his starting weight.
The women’s race was a little closer, but
slow and steady won the race. Doris Castro,
of our Corporate Safety Group, slowly stacked
up the lost pounds and held on to win the title
of ‘BIGGEST LOSER” for the women. Doris lost
10.03% of her starting weight. Jan Andrusky,
of our Marine Services Group was a very close
runner-up, losing 9.31% of her starting weight.
By Trish McSulla
WMI kicked off its first “BIGGEST LOSER”
contest on March 15, 2013 with 28 employees
“weighing in” for the challenge. The group
consisted of 16 men and 12 females weighing
a combined total of 5,314.5 lbs.
The contest ran from March 15 (initial weigh
in) through May 31, 2013 (final weigh in). The
“BIGGEST LOSER” was determined by the
largest percentage of weight lost over the 12
week program. There was one male “BIGGEST
LOSER” and one female “BIGGEST LOSER”
as well as 2 runners up. Participants had to
“weigh in” 8 of the 12 weeks to be eligible for
the “BIGGEST LOSER” title. Our Construction
Division Safety Manager, Jeff Moser, a
Weeks Marine Journal is published
quarterly for Employees by:
Certified Sports Nutritionist, supervised the
weigh ins and offered nutritional support to the
participants.
Jose and Doris each won $250.00 from
WMI and a gym bag from our insurance carrier,
United HealthCare. Claude and Jan each won
$100.00 from WMI. United HealthCare also
donated water bottles for all the participants
and pedometers, yoga mats and jump ropes,
which were awarded to the weekly winners.
The competition began to get tough in the
3rd week when Jose Lopez, of our MP Howlett
Group, decided to join the contest and quickly
became the leader in the men’s race, winning
the weekly “BIGGEST LOSER” title 6 times! No
surprise that Jose went on to win the overall
“BIGGEST LOSER” title dropping a whopping
16.03% of his starting weight. Nipping at his
heels the entire contest was Claude Dion,
The contest was a fun way to embrace a
healthier lifestyle and everyone enjoyed the
sense of camaraderie and accomplishment.
The group lost a combined total of 229.4
pounds!
Congratulations to Jose and Doris on
becoming the “BIGGEST LOSERS”. Thanks to
everyone who participated, you are all winners
for embracing a healthier lifestyle!!
Weeks Marine Inc.
4 Commerce Drive
Cranford, NJ 07016
For more information or additional copies
please contact Luis Soares, Editor.
Congratulations to Weeks Marine’s Biggest
Losers; Doris Castro and Jose Lopez.
`
908-272-4010