Lockport Major Rehabilitation Stage III
Canal Walls
Matthew Myles Walsh II Founders National Safety Award
Project Description
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n 1885, the City of Chicago was ravaged by an outbreak of waterborne disease due to a contaminated water supply. As a result, construction of the Sanitary & Ship Canal began to divert the contaminated wastewater out of Lake Michigan, with a secondary motive of an improved Navigation Channel. Field Museum Library, Sanitary and Ship Canal near Lockport, 1896
Lockport Dam and Powerhouse, built 1905-1907
Chronic seepage and a deteriorating concrete wall has prompted the United States Army Corps of Engineers to conduct major rehabilitation of the canal walls. Walsh Construction is currently working on Stage III of the overall Lockport Pool Major Rehabilitation project, focusing primarily on the Canal Walls located north of the Lockport Dam and Powerhouse. The canal walls not only act as guide walls for barges traveling the canal, but are also maintaining the water at an elevation higher than the surrounding community and landscape. Currently, several areas of the canal are leaking into Deep Run Creek, which runs parallel and adjacent to the east of the canal. If the wall remains as-is, there is a high possibility of a catastrophic failure that could flood the entire community.
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Cross Section Elevation
Phases of Work & Hazardous Activities
The new canal wall is constructed by placing large precast concrete panels (approximately 36’ x 8’ x 16”) side by side into an excavated trench for a run of 10,680 feet, or just over two miles. Each panel weighs around 64,000 pounds and is placed with a Manitowoc 999 lattice-boom crane (250-ton capacity). Typical Pick Analysis
Corporate Safety declares a critical lift as “any lift that exceeds 75% of the crane’s rated lifting capacity at the working radius or requires the use of more than one crane or special hoist/ rigging equipment. A critical lift requires extra care due to the small margin for error and the serious consequences of any mistake.” For this job, every lift is considered critical due to the size, cost, and time necessary to cast each panel. The management team created two pick plans prior to panel installation; the first pick plan is for lifting panels in a typical situation, and the second pick plan was modified for the site conditions of overhead power lines and Route 7 Bridge.
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Phases of Work & Hazardous Activities
Modified Pick, Overhead Power Lines and Route 7 Bridge Clearance
Hydro Crane setting precast panels under overhead lines
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Two-crane pick: Smaller Hydro Crane only had one line
Hydro Crane installing panels under Route 7 Bridge
Phases of Work & Hazardous Activities
Prior to setting the precast wall sections, preparatory work must be completed. The first phase of work consists of excavating and pouring a tie back anchor wall, in which the precast wall sections are later connected to by a waler and tie rod system.
Panels Connected by Waler and Tie Rods Anchor Wall and Tie Rods
After the anchor wall is poured, the existing concrete wall along the canal is demolished; this creates the work platform to install the walers and tie rods. Once the precast panels are connected, the area between the new wall sections and the existing wall are filled by discharging concrete underwater in four separate lifts at a rate of one lift per day. A concrete dock wall cap is then formed and poured, completing the new wall.
Pouring Concrete Cap Wall
Complete Concrete Cap Wall
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Management Leadership
G
iven the possibility of impending failure of the existing canal embankment, we were required to prepare an Emergency Response Plan before work commenced on the jobsite; this plan includes a detailed description of all equipment, material, personnel and procedures necessary to bring the canal embankment to greater levels of protection without delay.
The Emergency Response Plan (ERP) requires coordination with all local emergency responders – local fire, rescue, police, and emergency medical providers, the USACE Contracting Officer and Site Representative, and all employees working on site. Everyone involved was trained to their level of responsibility, with training drills held regularly to reflect the constantly changing jobsite. Resubmission of the ERP is required when the layout of the site and emergency routes change.
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Employee Involvement
Our team gets together multiple times per week. At a minimum, we meet daily to discuss the jobsite as a whole, with Safety being the first item on the agenda, and weekly at the Safety Huddle (held on Tuesdays) and Safety Committee Meetings (held on Fridays). Due to the nature of the Contract (United States Army Corps of Engineers), we have requirements which cause us to meet more frequently throughout the job.
For example, for every new activity we are required to submit a work plan prior to the start of work with an approved AHA (Activity Hazard Analysis), hold a Preparatory Meeting prior to start of work, hold an Initial Meeting after work has begun, and document daily activities – also called the Follow-Up Phase. This entire process is known as the Three Phases of Control, and the purpose is to ensure that safety, quality, and peak performance have been put into practice with every aspect of every task.
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Management Leadership
The managers set the example while interacting with field employees – every manager on our team spends several hours of every day in the field. By spending so much time in the field, we have established and maintained open lines of communication with all members of our team; this has enabled us to convey our corporate safety process to all along with a firm understanding of our goal, and the employees have also become comfortable enough to express their ideas and concerns with us. The staff has openly promoted and encouraged this feedback, both positive and negative, regarding any operation or activity that is perceived as needing attention, which in turn creates an atmosphere of trust.
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Employee Involvement
Our team has also developed what we have termed a Weekly Safety Committee, which is held in addition to the weekly Safety Huddles. The committee is made up of all managers with the inclusion of foreman, surveyors, quality control technicians and tradespeople; one trades person from each craft is selected on a rotational basis. The committee is trained in the performance of the REAP process and their duty for the week is to demonstrate how the program works by Actively Caring about their fellow workers and documenting it.
“Actively Caring”
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HAZARDS NOISE FALLS FLYING DEBRIS LIFTING OBJECTS PINCH POINTS STRUCK BY CAUGHT BETWEEN CUTTING/BURNING/WELDING CONCRETE BURNS SILICA GASOLINE/DIESEL DUST TRIP HAZARD IMPALEMENT STRAINS ELECTROCUTION EQUIPMENT ROLLOVER FLYING LOADS WOOD SPLINTERS SLIPPING BURNS FALLING OBJECTS CAVE INS HEAT MOVING VEHICLES CHEMICAL BURNS PROTRUDING NAILS SWING RADIUS HIGH WINDS SHARP EDGES
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30
CONTROLS HEARING PROTECTION 100% TIE OFF FULL FACE SHIELD W/SAFETY GLASSES USE PROPER LIFTING TECHNIQUES GLOVES/PROPER TOOLS ALARMS/SIGNALS/AWARENESS KNOW YOUR SURROUNDINGS SHADES/FIRE EXTINGUISHER/LEATHERS TAPE BOOTS RUBBER GLOVES RESPIRATORY PROTECTION GLOVES/SAFETY GLASSES USE DUST MASKS HOUSEKEEPING USE REBAR CAPS STRETCHING/PROPER TOOLS INSPECT TOOLS/CORDS/GFCI'S SEATBELTS/PROPER OPERATION STAY CLEAR OF LOADS/SOUND HORN USE GLOVES TAKE SHORT STEPS PROPER PPE CORRECT RIGGING/TAG LINES TRENCH BOX/PROPER SLOPING DRINK WATER/FREQUENT BREAKS FLASHING LIGHTS/BACKUP ALARMS USE PROPER PPE REMOVE/BEND OVER NAILS USE CORRECT BARRIERS TAG LINES/NO LIFT OVER 30MPH USE LEATHER GLOVES
Actively Caring
FOREMAN'S REAP (Review Employee's Actions & Performance) What safe actions / conditions were observed?
What Unsafe actions / conditions were observed?
What was communicated to prevent reoccurrence?
How was safe behavior encouraged?
Immediate corrective action
ASK YOURSELF THESE QUESTIONS BEFORE YOU START YOUR TASK
Have I planned and considered all health and environmental hazards involved with this task? Have I planned my work to eliminate slip, trip and fall hazards? Have I planned my work to eliminate struck by and/or caught in between hazards? Have I planned my work to eliminate electrical hazards? Do I have the tools and equipment needed to do this job safely? Have I identified your experienced employees and explained not to take chances or cut corners? Have I identified your inexperienced employees and given them proper training?
Have I taken proper steps toward utility damage prevention? Am I prepared to work near, on or over water? Have I discussed all hazards with entire crew? Have I informed others in the area of the task? Do I know what my emergency action plan is? Have I praised my co-workers for working safely?
“No One Gets Hurt”
SAFETY BRIEF GUIDE FOREMAN'S REFERENCE GUIDE
The Safety Professional then gathers the REAPs from the committee members and compiles the information into a PowerPoint presentation that he presents in front of the committee members on Friday mornings prior to the start of work. The presentation usually creates casual discussions amongst the managers and tradespeople regarding safety – the exact intent.
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Application Effort
We have several activities that have been modified from the standard and or company policy to enhance the effectiveness of the safe work practice. Fall Protection: We have added fall protection to heavy equipment by designing an anchor point that allows the operator to tie off when (s)he must access the top of the machine for servicing and inspection. We also practice engineering methods to prevent hazards, such as building up berms or excavating work areas lower to adjust the height of the fall under six feet, and building staircases, walkways and ladders for the various activities that pose slips, trips and fall hazards.
Jobsite Congestion: This jobsite also has implemented the vehicle spotter policy where no trucks are allowed to back up unless a spotter is assigned to that specific vehicle. All drivers and jobsite staff have been trained on these procedures. When a truck arrives, the driver must stop until a spotter has been identified – the spotter is highly visible, wearing an orange hardhat and vest marked VEHICLE SPOTTER.
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Application Effort
Working On/Near Water:
All employees receive a personal floatation device (PFD) at the time of their site-specific orientation. Due to the exposure being in various areas and constantly changing, all employees are required to have them at all times due to the frequency that they will find themselves in areas of exposure. All areas that have exposure are identified with signs to remind employees that a PFD is required.
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Application Effort
Provide an explanation of difficult and hazardous work activities that have been safely performed on your project and explain how your safe performance sets you apart. This job has several hazardous work activities. We pick and set up to twenty concrete panels per day that weigh more than 64K; therefore critical pick plans have been developed to ensure the safety of this operation. We also have several simultaneous concrete pours on a daily basis; we have established safe methods that are job specific to include all aspects of the pour from concrete burn prevention, method of pour and traffic movement. One of the original challenges in this project was the diving operation, which was repeated more often at the beginning, for trench inspection and cleaning. The dive operation is at a depth of thirty feet and may take hours at a time. Our dive team was selected and the dive plan was written for this job specifically. The plan was submitted for approval by the United States Army Corps of Engineers before dive operations commenced. Due to the high hazard associated with dive operations on an open commercial shipping route, we involved Lockport Fire Department’s Rescue Dive Team to periodically observe our operations for training.
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Application Effort
Due to the need to preserve our aggregate material on site for reuse, we have incorporated a mobile crushing operation. The crusher and its support equipment have many hazards associated with them. In an attempt to eliminate some of the hazards, we designed and installed fall protection on the crusher for the operator, we developed a method of applying water to the material for concrete dust suppression, retrained all employees on that crew about lockout/ tagout and a applied a daily equipment check list to ensure compliance with our plan. The crusher currently averages about 1,200 to 2,000 tons of material each day. This job is unique in it’s footprint. It is sixty feet wide by a little over two miles long. There is limited access for materials and equipment and the work areas are extremely tight. We have worked diligently in our efforts to minimize the risks and remove the hazards commonly associated to these working conditions. No truck moves without a spotter specifically assigned to them, work is planned daily to ensure separation of activity, swing radius protection is used on all equipment to establish the exclusion zones, and traffic control is setup and maintained on our site equal to that of any other project that has public traffic.
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Leading Indicators
Provide an explanation of the challenges within the schedule and how these challenges set you apart from others. We have been forced to change the schedule on several occasions due to unforeseen challenges with our methods. If a change is made, we regroup as a team to discuss the effects on our job. Safety of the employees is the number one discussion point. How a change in the schedule will effect employees and how to prevent an incident from occurring is discussed as a new plan is developed. Provide an explanation of over time and shift work and how this overtime and shift work makes your safety efforts greater than others.
“Safety of the employees is the number one discussion point.�
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We often run two shifts; the day crews and the second shift crews are comprised of employees that will remain together this reduces the risk to new employees or employees not accustomed to the activities on varying shifts and hazards associated with them. We believe in the family aspect of the crews and work hard to promote the same crews working together and minimize transition amongst employees.
Leading Indicators
If there were staff changes on the project, provide an explanation of how these staff changes made it more difficult for your project to operate safely. Whenever we have a staff change, we have a duty to educate the employee on the specifics of our job site. We have an extensive orientation program for new, returning, and/or transitional employees. Any employee, regardless of the circumstances that brought them to our job site, goes through a job specific safety orientation. This orientation is attended by tradespeople, field management, project managers and employees from other contractors.
If you had an extraordinary amount of staff changes, provide an explanation of percentage of new staff and how these staff changes made meeting your safety goals more challenging. Regardless of the percentage of staff changes, the process of educating the new staff to our job site remains the same. All employees attend an extensive orientation with regard to safety. We have several of our tradespeople pulled to other jobs for their skill, knowledge and ability to perform quality work safely. They are an asset to other jobs as well as ours; we get better from promoting within.
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Leading Indicators
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Leading Indicators
“T h e W a l s h C o n s t ru ct i o n C o m pa n y
a p p e a r s to ta k e s a f e t y v e ry s e r i o u s ly .”
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Crew
Construction cr ew, circa 2011
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Construction cr ew, circa 1873 , Courtesy of I& M Canal Corrid o r Driving Tour P amphlet