3
Torco Construction Inc. of Maryland was awarded the contract to build the new sports complex and convention center for the town of Harrisonburg in Virginia. William Monterey, a civil engineer, was the project manager. In the construction trailer, the wall clock was three minutes shy of 7 AM. Three men collected their coffee mugs, rolls, architectural drawings and various gadgets of the trade as they gathered to be directed by their manager.
“Listen guys, today we are going to see the entire footing of phase one poured.” William had earned the respect of his crew and was highly regarded as one of Torco’s best project managers.
“Have both your crews showed up, Ray? We can’t afford to be shorthanded!” Ray, the site foreman, had arrived an hour ago.
“All twelve of my men punched in at six-thirty. They are checking all of the forming and preparing the equipment as we speak. I’ve got three carpenters and four finishers confirmed by phone ready to punch-in at seven-thirty.”
Ray was one of the best site foremen William had ever worked with. He was always one step ahead of him. “The consultant on this project is a first class prick. He hates the fact that we are out-of-towners. If we don’t pour the entire phase one ribbon footing today, he will have a field day at our expense. Let’s make it happen and show him why we got this project over his local cronies.”
As the first ready-mix concrete truck arrived on time, a small army of skilled tradesmen worked furiously.
“Ray, get those guys to prep the next section, the trucks are starting to back up!” One ready-mix truck was dumping its load, while two other trucks stood ready. The construction site was buzzing. A Jeep Cherokee kicking up dust came to a halt at William’s side. Jak Kline slammed his door and walked around to the front of his Jeep.
William decided to appear as confident as possible, trying to initiate a friendly good morning. “Hey, Jak, good…” but he wasn’t given the chance to finish.
Caught up in his own world, Jak butted in, “Good morning Mr. Monterey, do you have my first set of slump test results?”
“Good morning to you, Jak. All is going just fine, the slumps are over here for you to certify.”
“Bill, I am sure I don’t need to remind you how important it is to pour the entire phase one footing today.”
“Jak, we are here to make it happen. Barring any unforeseen disasters, we will complete the task at hand.” Turning on his heel, he added, “Now if you will excuse me I have got to place this mud before it turns to stone.”
By 4 PM, the precise teamwork of the crew was evident as completion of the pour seemed within reach.
“Ray, how many yards of concrete do you need to complete the pour?” William shouted with cell phone in hand.
“Beside what is here, we need at least four more full trucks.”
“Dispatch,” William shouted into his cell phone. “I have two trucks on site. As soon as these are empty, I will send them back for two loads. Do you have at least two more on the way to us?”
Ray, standing at the pour location, feeling panicked and overwhelmed with tension, suddenly screamed down the two-way radio for William’s attention.
“Bill, do you copy? We have a major problem on our hands!”
William, whose attention had been elsewhere, jumped at the sound of urgency in Ray’s voice. Ordering the ready-mix dispatch to hold on the line, he replied sharply: “What is it, Ray?”
“Bill, you’d better get over to the pour. We have a failure of a form panel and a possible injury.”
“Shit!”
William flipped the phone shut, and rushed on foot to the pour location.
The damage was worse than he had anticipated. A vertical form panel had let go and mounds of concrete had poured out. One worker appeared to have been knocked over by the collapsed form panel and was lying on his side. Fluid concrete had covered his legs and was rushing to his waist. The fallen worker’s arms were waving for help as the other men struggled to get to him.
An adjacent panel opened to the pressure and a mud-slide of concrete engulfed the trapped man. William reacted instinctively, racing to a skid-steer loader idling nearby. He lowered the machine’s large front bucket, scraping it along his path for a few feet. Scooping up a volume of dry gravel, he signaled Ray on the radio to move the crew. William dumped the load in front of the failure point, choking off the flow of liquid concrete. As the flow stopped, on cue the men scrambled to rescue the trapped worker. A fire hose was used to thin out the spillage. William left the loader positioned over the forms. Scrambling out of the machine, he jumped in the excavation and helped pull the worker by his arms. The worker was coughing but was able to stand.
“I want to know how in the hell that panel let go?” Ray was shouting at the top of his lungs, staring down the men.
“Ray, never mind that for now, we will get to the bottom of it later. Let’s get this mess cleaned up. I want you to drive Roland to the hospital and have him checked out.”
Ray stalled, looking at William to indicate that there wasn’t a need.
“I’m okay, Bill. I just need to catch my breath, I want to see this finished.”
“Listen, Roland, that was a very scary moment for both of us. I am not going to risk yours or anybody’s life for the sake of a lousy footing. Ray, get him checked out. Now!”
William spoke with the men to ensure that they were all okay. The consensus among them was to finish the job. Realizing that it might be too late, William shouted a succession of directions designed to clean up the mess and restore the forming. The ready-mix trucks sat idling as the crew worked furiously to restore the formwork.
“Listen Jak…” An hour later William was on his cell phone informing Jak Kline about the mishap. “Given this situation, let me pour the last twenty feet tomorrow, we can place re-bar in the tie-in juncture, and it will be as good as having poured it in one shot.”
Ray, calling in on the two-way, disrupted the conversation.
“Bill, Roland is fine. The doctors checked him out and they found no injuries. He is anxious to get back.”
“Ray, have a cab take Roland home and let him know I appreciate his hard work today. Tell him he is to take two days off next week with pay. On your way back, go by the ready-mix plant. I may need you there.”
Turning back to his phone call with Jak, William said, “Jak, did you hear all that?”
“Yes I did. Bill, I’m glad to hear no one was injured. That would not be good for Torco this early into the project. I wish I could say it would be no problem for me to certify the footing if you don’t pour the remainder in the next twenty minutes. It’s your call, Bill. If you can’t finish today, just figure on tearing up what you have placed and start from scratch. I have already made myself clear. The Specs call for a monolithic pour with no breaks. It may put you behind a week or so, but I am sure you big city guns know how to make up lost time.”
Call waiting on the cell phone signaled another incoming call.
“Jak, I will call you shortly to let you know that we need you to certify a completed pour! I just have to take this other call.”
“William Monterey, how can I help you?”
A secretary to one of Torco’s partners was on the line letting William know that the head office had been informed of the mishap and that Tony Torco, one of the partners, wanted to speak to him regarding the details.
“Listen, Ida, you tell Tony that all is okay here. I have a footing to complete, he will have my detailed report via e-mail by 10 PM this evening.”
William joined the men and helped them restore the forms. Before long the concrete pour had resumed, and it took little time to exhaust the ready-mix on site. As the last truck prepared to pour its load, they were two loads short to complete the pour.
William let Jak know things were looking good for completion, and then flipped his phone shut, only to open it again to initiate a call to the concrete dispatch. As he dialed the cell phone, he shouted on the two-way radio.
“Ray, are you at Superior Concrete yet?”
“I’m sorry, Mr. Monterey, but I have no more drivers here at the plant. The two drivers on site at the time of the accident left for the day convinced the site was shut down. We didn’t hear from you otherwise, and judging from what they told me…”
“Ray, what is your twenty?”
“I’m at the gate of Superior Concrete…”
“Dispatch, my site foreman is at your yard, load one of your trucks ASAP. He’ll drive it to our site. I am on my way to pick up the next load. Have it ready for me in fifteen minutes!”
As expected, some bickering with the dispatcher followed. The dispatcher didn’t want to allow anyone but a Superior licensed driver to handle its trucks. William placed the dispatcher on hold and turned it into a conference call with the owner of Superior at his other plant.
“Harold, you tell your dispatcher how critical supplying concrete to our site is to keeping her job…”
“Listen, Betty, load a truck ASAP for Ray and let him deliver the product. Bill, I am five minutes from the concrete plant. I will personally bring you the last load.”