volume 58 issue 1 winter 2015 a publication of irby...

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T H E C U R R E N T F L A S H E S

Volume 58 Issue 1 Winter 2015

I would like to begin by saying thank you for naming me Construction Employee of the Quarter. It’s just one more thing that Irby has done to make Okay Construction feel part of the Irby family. A�er graduating from Line School in Jackson, MN, in spring of 1985, I started my career with Okay Construction. In the 1980’s and 90’s the crew I was on spent most of our time in Minnesota and Wisconsin building distribution and doing some transmission maintenance. Since 2000, we have done about 50% transmission and 50% distribution in Minnesota, Wisconsin and North Dakota. In 2002, Okay Construction sold to Quanta Services. In 2012, we became part of Irby Construction - doing business as Okay Construction - thanks to Bill Korlath and Greg Johnson. It’s been a great �t. My current role is Superintendent of Job 215. In the 30 years that I have been with this company I have never seen one person build a powerline. With that being said, I would like to thank the entire team of 215 for doing a great job - each and every one of you play an important part in our success. I would also like to thank all the people in Richland for your help.

During my free time I like to hang out with my family, taking road trips, going to the lake and four-wheeling. I’d like to thank my wife Tammy and my two daughters, McKayla and Keisha, for supporting me and letting me do the job I love, even though it takes me away from them at times.

A Publication of IRBY CONSTRUCTIONVolume 58 Issue 1 WINTER 2015

Inside this Issue

Construction Employeeof the Quarter . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

A Word from Bill . . . . . . . . . . 2

Congratulations, Dave! . . . . 3

Service Awards . . . . . . . . . . . 4

News of the Crews . . . . . . . . 7

Safety Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

Human Resources Notes . . 31

Happy Birthday! . . . . . . . . . 32

Safety First!

Construction Employee of the Quarter DAVE AUBREY

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T H E C U R R E N T F L A S H E SA Word from Bill

Yesterday was Christmas and today is January 16th! Time sure has a way of slipping by quickly. 2014 was a good year for Irby Construction Company. �anks to each of you for your contribution to our success. Our safety numbers were the best in the history of our company and I congratulate each of you. Our goal for 2015 is to improve our numbers by 20%. Of course, zero accidents are our ultimate goal!We are developing a dashboard, or storyboard, to give every employee more information about the health of the company. You will soon see graphs that will show our company-wide safety numbers. �ere will also be graphs of operating income compared to 2015 goal, and uncommitted work added compared to what we need to get during the year. Uncommitted work is not identi�ed backlog. Uncommitted work is work that we need to get to ful�ll our company goal for 2015. Starting this New Year, we need $ 135,595,454.00 worth of new work. �at is a very aggressive goal to reach, but I have no doubt that we will meet or exceed it.�e operating income graph will show the total amount needed to reach our goal. Each month the amount of operating income we earned will be shown compared to what we need. Operating income is the pro�t we earn a�er G&A is subtracted from gross margin. G&A is general and administrative expenses. Really, operating income is what is le� a�er all expenses are paid.Each one of us can move these numbers. Of course if we have an accident, our number will worsen. Remember if you have second thoughts about doing something, stop and consider what you’re going to do. When we have an accident, it not only injures the employee, but also a�ects all 750 of us. If our TIIR is above 3.0 many utilities will not allow us to work for them. We ended 2014 at 2.08. Our goal for 2015 is 1.67. Numbers like this takes dedication and hard work to achieve. Watch a�er each other, we are our “Brother’s Keeper.”

Our operating income is achieved or exceeded by getting the progress we bid in the job. Whatever crew you work on, you should know what progress is in the bid on your project. Taking care of our equipment, working safe, planning the work, etc. all contribute to operating income. We are developing an additional directive this year that will continue our Safety Journey. �e slogan for this program will be ICARE (Involved, Committed, Aware, Responsible, and Empowered). You will hear more in the very near future.Happy New Year to each of you and your families. I look forward to another successful year. �ank You.

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Congratulations, Dave! It has been a true honor and pleasure to get to know Dave through the years as Okay Construction moved over to Irby, embracing all things ‘Irby’ in the process. Upon Greg Johnson’s retirement, Dave easily transitioned into leadership of the group and has accomplished great things in a short time frame. He is always at his best and leads the crews by example in both safety and quality. His positive attitude with customers is an asset that allows an atmosphere of trust between their group and everyone associated. �e customers keep giving us more and more work thanks to his dedication to always get the job done right. Most important, he is a family man who is brave enough to take his wife and two daughters in the recently purchased motor home to the Calgary Stampede. We are fortunate to have Dave as Superintendent and look forward to many years of continued success. Congratulations! Bonnie Burnham

Congratulations, Dave, on being chosen Construction Employee of the Quarter. It is a well-deserved honor. I �rst met Dave several years ago when Okay Construction Company was tucked under Irby. I have found Dave to be a very conscientious, knowledgeable and dedicated employee. Dave is de�nitely an asset to Irby as well as Quanta. I commend him on his work ethic, his dealings with customers as well as employees under his direction. I look forward to having him around for many years to come. Again, Congratulations. Charles Gatewood

Dave had been working with Okay Construction for about 6 years when I came on board back in 1991. I was in the o�ce and later on distribution crews at the beginning, so I didn’t get to know Dave for a few years. Once I started taking on safety duties our paths crossed more o�en. Dave has always (more or less) been in charge of the transmission crews for Great River Energy and has done an excellent job. When Greg Johnson retired last year Dave stepped up to the plate and took over. I commend him on his people skills – he gets along great with everyone from employees to customers. I don’t think I know a more dedicated or optimistic person, it is truly a pleasure to work with him. Being named “Construction Employee of the Quarter” is well deserved – Congratulations Dave! Julie Johnson

I met Dave when he started with Okay Construction. He always has a good “can do” attitude and is a pleasure to work with. Congratulations Dave on being employee of the quarter. It is well deserved! Bob Razink

Great River Energy has had a relationship with Dave Aubrey and Okay Construction since 2000. Since then, Okay has been helping us build and rebuild our transmission system almost continually. It has been my pleasure to work directly with Dave and his skilled and talented crews. I have found Dave to exhibit integrity, quality and promote safety on every project Okay has undertaken for us. Dave is a great manager of crews, equipment and o�ce duties; however, where Dave really shines, is running projects in the �eld. When we have had major outages involving miles of down lines, invariably Dave assumes the leadership role. He directs all of the crews, material deliveries and me to work e�ciently and safely to restore the down line. It is no surprise to me that Dave has been selected by Irby Construction for an award of excellence. His mentorship shows in all his �eld supervisors, foremen and crew members. My congratulations to Dave Aubrey and Okay Construction. Mike Walkowiak, Great River Energy, Transmission Construction Representative.



Listed below are those within the Company who recieved service awards for 2014. Congratulations!

2014 Service Awards

Five Years

Martin Goodrich

Je�rey Gable

Faustino Jimenez

Greg Merchant

Arnie Rabang Socrates

Alex Rodriguez-Rivera

Franklin Rodgers

Stuart Bradshaw

Michael Hudson

Chris Swindoll

Wyatt Dietz

Danny Condrey

Je� Cumberland

Richard Cumberland

Scott Kindrex

Ten Years

Bill Collins

Jake Dooner

Jacob Koehler

Mark Karren

Moses Navarro

Nicholas Villanueva

Andrew Marr

Ten Years

Mike Morgan

Randy Cumberland

Chris Ellis

John Robertson

Tom Mehlin

Chris Rash

Amy Jinks

Dale Brandner

Brad Davis

Pam Mosley

Fifteen Years

Tony Heumier

Francisco Luna

Howard Oleson

Harry Carbo

Jessie Langel Jr

Sharon Clements

Bonnie Burnham

Greg Berry

Johnny Sistrunk

Twenty Years

Arlen Anderson

Ken Cyrek

Twenty-Five Years

Tommy Jinks

Margaret Rushing

Claudette Crawford

Melvin Jenkins

Thirty Years

Dennis Harris

Wesley Tomlinson

Andres Gonzalez

John Hopper

Leslie Sumners

�ad Owens

Thirty-five Years

Rick Shouse

Dona Holland

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2014 Service Awards Photos

Bill presented Scott Kindrex with his 5 year service award. Pam Mosley and Brad Davis received awards for 10 years of service.

Greg Berry and Sharon Clements received awards for 15 years of service.

Margaret Rushing, Melvin Jenkins and Claudette Crawford each received a 25 year service award.

On December 12, 2014, the Jackson o�ce held their annual Christmas Party. Shown below are those who were presented with Service Awards. �anks to all for your years of service!

Continued next page...



Bill presented Dona Holland with an award for 35 years of service.

�ad Owens and John Hopper received 30 year service awards.

2014 Service Awards Photos...continued

More Service award pictures on page 25...

Job 212 Florida Region

�e employees pictured above completed portions of the the Apprentice Lineman Training programs. From le� to right are: John Clonts, ; Erik Goodhead, 2nd year; William Kronmaier, 1st year; and William Rutherford, 3rd year.

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News of THE CREWSJob 212 Florida Region

Congratulations to you Dave, on being selected as Construction Employee of the Quarter – very well deserved.

Job 212: Florida Region Hello from Florida. �e winter months have thankfully been very mild for us down here so far. �e few days down in the 30s have been quickly followed by 70s (and 80s). From what I was able to gather, most everyone received more than they asked for, but not as much as they gave for the Holidays. As we turn the page on 2014 and look forward to 2015 we are pleased to see that our workload with FPL and Duke Energy is looking very promising.

Job 1451: Distribution work for Duke Energy. To our crews, thank you. �ank you for all of your hard work in 2014 - we could not do it without you; nor would we want to.Duke ended the year with hundreds of priority poles that needed to be completed by 10/31/14. �erefore Bo Wilder, Tony Martin, and Dennis Harris transitioned all of their crews into Pole Change-out for about 6 weeks. In the end our crews accomplished our goals and replaced nearly 170 poles…..GREAT JOB GUYS. We also would like to welcome OV Flowers to the Florida Region Family…great to have you, Sir.

Florida Transmission Jobs: headed up by Brent Cro�, Bo Wilder, Carl Schaefer, Richard Cumberland, and John Baugh.

�anks to all of the crews for all of the hard work, long hours, and dedication you have all put in this year. It has been a lot of jumping around and it is well appreciated!!

Job 1733: FPL. 3 to 5 years of various transmission maintenance and hardening projects. Ray Simmons’ crew has been working on several hardening jobs throughout the Titusville and Cocoa area. Tim Dearman’s crew is still plugging along with several LIDAR and hardening projects throughout the Sanford and Merrit Island areas. John Van-Heel and Luis Beltran’s crew just completed a 100 plus pole hardening project throughout the Palm Bay and Vero Beach areas. Steve Maradik’s crew just �nished with a 100 plus pole job through the Bunnell and Ormond Beach areas. William Walker’s crew is still working nights in the swamp in Palatka and Hastings areas.

Job 1746: Consists of 6 miles 230kV and DC with 2 miles 115kV for FPL. �is work was for the new Magnolia Sub that went online in Dec 2014. �is crew was led by Carl Schaefer and John Baugh. Robert Benson’s crew has completed all of the wire and cutover work. Gerry Hatchcock’s crew completed all of the pole work associated with this project. Hats o� to you all. All work was completed on time or ahead of schedule.

Job 1767: Palatka, FL. Ampacity upgrade of all of the 115 and 230 kv lines. �is work was due to a New 500 sub that was built and went online in Jan 2015. Crew was led by Richard Cumberland, Je� Cumberland, and William Walker. All work was completed on time to energize the new Roberts Substation.

As always, we send out a big thank you to all of our Irby and Quanta family members out there. We wish you all a safe and prosperous 2015.

Take care of you and yours,�e Florida Region

continued on the following page...



Job 212 Florida Region...continued

Alex Rodriguez received a 5 year service award from Tony Martin.

Je� Gable received a 5 year service award from Dennis Harris.

Tony presented an award for 5 years of service to Faustino Jimenez.

�e following pictures show Service Awards that were given in the Florida Region.

Martin Goodrich received his 5 year service award from Project Safety Coordinator Luther Boone.

Tony presented Arnie Socrates with an award for 5 years of service

Tony presented an award for 5 years of service to Greg Merchant.

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Dennis presented Andrew Marr with his award for 10 years of service.

Mike Morgan was given an award for 10 years of service by Tony.

Job 215 Okay Construction History of Okay Construction

Okay Construction originally started as Fransen Brother’s Construction in Palisade, Minnesota. Shortly a�er the turn of the century, each of the Fransen brothers had a team of mules they hired to the railroad for construction and maintenance of railroad lines. In 1938, they started doing distribution construction to take advantage of the REA funded projects. �e company shut down during World War II, and a�er the war, diversi�ed into overhead communication construction. As overhead telephone was replaced by underground, Okay stayed solely in overhead transmission, distribution and substation power construction In the early 1950’s, the Fransen Brothers sold the business to several employees and the name of the company was incorporated as Okay Construction in 1951. Ernest Johnson, one of the founding partners, ran the company through the mid 1990’s when the company was purchased by his son Greg. Since the beginning, Okay has maintained a reputation for quality workmanship and loyalty to its customers. A notable quote from Ernie Johnson: “experience and education is something that cannot be taken from you.”

In 2002, Okay Construction was acquired by Quanta Services and in 2011 was partnered with Irby Construction Company. Our work includes: EPC renewable projects (wind farms, solar); horizontal directional drilling; underground power and cable installation; project management services and overhead transmission and distribution construction. Our customers include Great River Energy, East Central Energy, Nobles Electric and Polk Burnett Electric CoOp, to name a few. Our work takes us to North Dakota, Minnesota and Wisconsin, where winter has o�cially arrived!




Job 215 Okay Construction...continued

215 Region framing crew working in North Dakota.

Dave presented Jake Dooner with an award for 10 years of service.

Jake Koehler received a 10 year service award from Dave.

Dave presented Bill Collins with an award for 10 years of service.

Dave Aubrey presentes Arlie Anderson with a 20 year service award.

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Job 1449 Imperial Irrigation District

Greetings to all at Irby from hot sunny southern California! Hope everyone had a safe Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. �e New Year is looking bright for us out here. Our crews have all been working mostly out of our Mecca yard on the north end for the past few months. We just completed a distribution upgrade in Mecca and another in the back yards of El Centro. We are currently dodging golf balls and �nishing up another back yard re-conductor job in a �ousand Palms golf community. We are also gearing up for a 92kV re-conductor job in the Coachella Valley area. With this job we should have plenty of work to keep the crews busy all year.

We would like to welcome Hector Ayala to our work force. Our big spenders this Quarter are Frank Luna and Jesse Luna with new, big, Ford trucks. Travis Wollan also made the list with his new chopper.Jay Outram has been spending his spare time working on a little something that will be enjoyed by all if he ever gets it �nished. Pictures to follow… Congratulations to Dave Aubrey for being Construction Employee of the Quarter. Until next time, everyone work safe!

Travis presented Mark Karren with his 10 year service award.

Moses Navarro was given a 10 year service award by Travis.

Howard Olsen was given a 15 year service award by Travis Wollan.

Nicholas Villanueva was given a 10 year service award by Travis.

Frank Luna received his 15 year service award from Travis.


T H E C U R R E N T F L A S H E S Job 1520 Central Maine Power

Maine had a cool summer and a long wet fall as we approach the end of four-plus years of construction. We have narrowed the number of work locations dramatically in the last six months, dropping from the maximum of four yard locations, to one. �is location will be used to complete the construction process by the third or fourth week in April. During the project there have been �ve major 115kV lines and two 345kv lines constructed between two major new substations and one major addition on a substation. Additionally, six smaller substations have been tied into the work and numerous lines have been moved, upgraded or replaced. All but one line of the work involved working in the same corridor with energized lines. Outages and completion dates were critical as little or no duplication existed in the grid. Crews recently completed a di�cult water crossing spanning Merrymeeting Bay with two 345kV lines and one 115kV line. �e marshy, so� soils required alternative types of foundations. �e crossing has been in progress for nearly a year. At the same time, the second 345kV line was constructed and other 115kV work was being performed. Clean up and restoration at the bay will last until the end of January but completion in the area is eminent. Environmental issues such as the tidal river and eagle restrictions, combined with organic farming practices under and adjacent to the ROW, further complicated the work. �e project pulled through with numerous small and large commendations from the agencies and owners, with respect to environmental concerns. With the bay crossing work completed, a reduced work force is concentrating on tying in the recently

constructed 345 kV line and two previously constructed 115kv lines into a new major substation. �is substation also connects to another project of work bordering the north end of our project.Numerous other lines will also be connected to the substation from a substation being decommissioned as part of the project scope. It’s a complicated transition Paul Hughes is concentrating on, now that the bay crossing is o� his plate. Duane Bennett is coordinating particularly complicated and sensitive aspects of both the bay crossing and substation tie-in work. Harry Carbo is keeping the 350 plus pieces of equipment running for the entire project. Ramping down the equipment and returning it to the respective partners (Cianbro and Irby) is also beginning. Dennis Winston is consistently found on the ROW keeping a reconnaissance on all the work under Paul Hughes, while Jesse Beel keeps the �eld o�ce running. Rufus Killen is riding herd over the entire operation coordinating resources and assuring the work is allocated to the right spots at the right times to meet the schedule and outage dates. �e project is looking forward to a gratifying end to a long and complicated schedule of work. A May/June conclusion is expected. �e Maine work has been motivating and productive with numerous challenges and changes. Rufus has been key in keeping the work moving forward and all the crews and supervision have consistently proven their value and versatility. It has been an interesting job, overcoming many obstacles. We will take what we’ve learned to make the next project even better.

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Volume 58 Issue 1 Winter 2015 continued on the following page...

“We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.” -Winston Churchill. On December 19, 2014 the Cianbro Irby team reached another goal raising $6,000 for Make- A -Wish Maine. �is Money will sponsor a wish for a child diagnosed with a life threatening illness. In just 18 months the team has raised enough money to grant wishes for six children. A total of $36,000! Tom Peaco, Executive Director of Make -A -Wish Maine presented the team with the Community Spirit Award in recognition of those making signi�cant, long- standing contributions to the cause. Tom had this to say, “What an honor for us to receive this generous support raised by the Cianbro Irby joint venture team. It was exciting for us to see how employees took ownership of this fundraising e�ort for our wish kids, and gained such a passion for our mission through their e�orts. It was only natural for us to honor them with our Community Spirit Award. We salute the Cianbro Irby team for making a huge di�erence for our Maine wish children! Irby Chief Operating O�cer Field Operations, John Hopper shared this, “I would just like to say that I am truly amazed at the outpouring of generosity from our team in Maine. �is is such an honorable charity and to make a di�erence for six children is an awesome accomplishment. I had the honor of seeing one of the children the previous Christmas along with his mother. It moves me thinking about the meeting - giving kids and their families a chance to experience a dream during such trying times is very commendable. My hat is o� to our folks - very proud of our team!”



Harry Carbo received his 15 year service award from Rufus Killen.Wesley Tomlinson received a 30 year service award by Rufus Killen.

Randy Cumberland was presented with a 10 year service award by Rufus.

�is is Harry Carbo’s grandson, Alex Burt. We sponsored their team again in 2014 when they went to the World Series. �ey

were the Dixie Boys baseball 2014 World Series Champions.

Congratulations!

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�ese photos are of the Merrymeeting Bay where tower replacement work was

done.



Above, le� is another shot of Merrymeeting Bay. Above is a

photo of work from Section 3025. �e photo at le� shows a 345kV wire pull with adjacent115kv &

345 at Merrymeeting Bay Crossing.

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Volume 58 Issue 1 Winter 2015 more 1520 news on page 27...

Above, right is a shot from a line sequence at Coopers Mill

Substation tie-in. Above is a shot of the Brown’s Island tower & line replacement. At right is a photo of

hay mulching with a CD110.



Job 1706 Dominion

Above, le�, Jon Kiser and Richard Brown were given their 1st Year Apprentice Certi�cates by Harvey Bonner. Above, right, Harvey Bonner presents John Ware with his 3rd Year Apprentice Certi�cate.

�e pictures below and on the next page are from work done on the project.

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Below, the 1706 Crew.



American Electric Power - Oklahoma

Hello there from the Oklahoma AEP Projects! We would �rst like to congratulate Dave Aubrey for Construction Man of the Quarter. Our crews have been working extra hard here in Oklahoma meeting some tough deadlines all ahead of schedule. Job 1732 pulled 9.12 miles of wire and completed it in 3 weeks! We want to thank them for all the hard work and hours they have put in to make this happen. We are fortunate to have a group of guys willing to do whatever it takes to get the job done. Since we’ve last checked in our crews have met and surpassed 1,000 days without any OSHA

recordable incidents. Way to go guys! We currently have 2 jobs going on right now. Dean Anglum and Mike Anglum over Job 1773 which is 5.4 miles of 138kV running through the back yards of homes near Tulsa. �ere’s also Tom Mehlin and Randy Franks continuing the next 12.6 mile section of Job 1732 running through mountains, lakes and the mud pits of Oklahoma. We want to take the time to thank everyone in the Richland o�ce who help us daily. We appreciate y’all! Cheers to everyone having a safe 2015!

Above, le�, shows a pole setting crew on 1732. Above, right, is a shot of the right-of-way and Sardis Lake on 1732. On the following page is a photo showing the removal of grounds on 1732 .

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Job 1759 Dominion

Hello from the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. Congratulations to Dave Aubrey for being named Irby’s Construction Employee of the Quarter! General Supt. Mike Smith and the crew of Job 1759 extend a warm welcome to Supt. Randy “Swamp Rat” Jones, Supt. Mike Dietz, along with Mike Dietz’s crew who have all transferred here from the Chesapeake, Virginia project. Welcome to the Blue Ridge Mountains. Congratulations to Donell Swanson and Tony Collins, two of our general foremen! Since the last edition of �e Current Flash, both men have been promoted and are now Assistant Superintendents. Well deserved! We have a new Irby baby to announce. Congratulations to Alfonso Solares and his wife Abigail Torres! �ey have a new 8 lb., 8 oz. baby boy named Alfonso Solares Torres, born October 10th. �e proud father is a member of one of our steel assembly crews. We wish them all the best! Most of us here are from the Deep South, so �ve inches of snow the day before �anksgiving was quite a surprise. A lot of us have never seen a White Christmas, much less a White �anksgiving. We’ve had a couple of one-inch snows since then, but nothing like what this area is capable of from time-to-time. We have experienced some two degree temps with wind chills to 20 below zero. �at may not be impressive to you folks in Maine or Canada, but that’s pretty cold for the southern U.S. Well, back to work. Until next time, be smart and work safe.



T H E C U R R E N T F L A S H E S Job 1759 Dominion....continued

At right is a shot of the new towers going

up.

At le� is Mike Smith presenting Journeyman

Lineman Ken Cyrek with his 20 year service award.

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At le�, Sean Jones, Scott Beason and Je� Jones roll up old 500kV

conductor.

At right, Danny Navarro and Jason McCutcheon

cut through legs preparing to tear down

an old structure.



Job 1765 LCRA

Congratulations to Dave Aubrey for being the Construction Employee of the Quarter! Good day from Yorktown, TX Job #1765. We are �nishing the Nordheim, TX to Yorktown, TX section of this project and we only have two wire pulls le� to �nish this part of the job. Our crew, under the leadership of Robert Bar�eld, has still been making great progress while remaining safe. Our goal is to provide our customer a great product while remaining safe and our crew strives to meet that goal every day. Our crew recently had a chance to celebrate the holidays with our families. We enjoyed a nice steak dinner and meeting the families of our fellow employees. Robert “Bo” Bar�eld and his wife surprised the children of our crew with Christmas presents and judging by the smiles on the children’s faces, it was

greatly appreciated. �e crew also surprised Bo with a gi� to show our appreciation for everything that he has done throughout the year. One of our crew members recently made the leap and got married in December. Mr. John Edmond and Lisa Kidwell were married the week of Christmas. We are proud to have John on our crew. He has been a truck driver for Irby for many years and when there isn’t equipment to be moved you will �nd him operating or �lling in where he is asked. We want to thank the whole crew on Job #1765 for making last year a safe and productive year. We also want to wish all of the other jobs a safe and productive year.

Le�, above, Robert Bar�eld presents Omar Montoya with his 2nd Year Apprentice Certi�cate. Above, right, Robert presents Adrian Cruz with his 3rd Year Apprentice Certi�cate.

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2014 Service Awards Photos... continued

�e gentlemen pictured above are currently working in Canada, and received their service awards when they came through Richland. Above le�, is Charles Gatewood presetning Michael Hudson his 5 year service award.

Right, above, John Robertson received his award for 10 years of service from Charles.

�ose who could not attend the Christmas party received their awards at the o�ce. �ose photos are below.

Clockwise from le�: Bonnie Burnham received a 15 year service award; Johnny Sistrunk received a

15 year service award and, Leslie Sumners received an award for 30 years of service.



Job 1771 American Electric Power

Greetings from De Berry, TX. We are currently working on a 138KV Re-build for AEP starting in Texas going into Louisiana. We have seen our share of rain, swamps and cold weather. We are moving along despite all the bad weather and things should really kick o� the �rst week on February. We would like to congratulate Ernesto Zamora and his wife with their newest addition to their family. Also, we would like to say Congratulations to Dave Aubrey for Construction Employee of the Quarter. Until next time…Be safe!

Above, Chris Swindoll receives his 5 year service award from Pat Shouse. Below, are Bonnie Burnham, Chris and Pat at their Christmas party.

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Job 1520 Central Maine Power....continued

At right, a 115kV line on the north end of the job is pictured.

At le� is a photo of the Brown’s Island latice tower construction area.

At right is a shot of Rufus Killen moving tower sections on a barge.



Maine Power Reliability Program: Together We Can Do So Much…

�e Cianbro Irby Joint Venture remained strong to �nish out 2014 with a great deal to be proud of. �e team is now looking forward to continuing the same e�ort in 2015, as only �ve months remain before the Maine Power Reliability Project (MPRP) Central Loop is scheduled to be complete. �e performance to date on the MPRP, the largest construction undertaking in Maine’s history, is an incredible accomplishment for the Cianbro Irby team. �e team has remained dedicated to safety, environmental and community relations. �e project continues to be on track for an on-time delivery of a quality product to the customer.

�e joint venture had its safest year on the project since breaking ground in April of 2011. Team members continued to respect and plan the work, utilizing the daily activity plan as a working document to identify and eliminate potential hazards. �e team embraces the importance of environmental compliance, putting their best steel-covered toe forward each day to protect sensitive resources and remain in good standing with inspectors and the Maine Department of Environmental Protection. Community members who live and work near the construction Right of Way corridor have appreciated the courteous manner in which the team performs, giving Cianbro Irby a well-earned reputation for politeness and professionalism.

Cianbro Irby’s presence in Bowdoinham and Woolwich remained constant all year. Meticulous attention was paid to the planning and execution of this highly complicated 345 kV rebuild across the Kennebec and Abagadasset Rivers. In addition, special care was taken while crews worked among the delicate, organic farmlands that made up approximately 75 percent of the area’s scope of work. �irty-six drilled and micropile concrete foundations were carefully poured and cured to ensure quality and structural integrity. Collaboration with Cianbro’s skilled ironworkers helped give birth to four new lattice towers, and the disassembling of six others. Many hands working together made this multifaceted endeavor run e�ciently. Mid-December marked the successful energization of the rebuild.

Several other line sections, already underway prior to 2014, were completed in the year. Accomplishments included the wrap up of Section 251 (a 115 kV line around Bowman Air�eld in Livermore Falls); tower demolition and right-of-way restoration on two 115 kV lines in Jay and Canton; and demolition on Section 212 and 41 in Monmouth, Litch�eld and West Gardiner. Construction on Sections 61A, 75, and 255 all began and were completed within the year.

All that remains for 2015 are Section 375/777 restoration; a short wire pull with restoration on Section 3025; Section 378, a structure change-out scope in Wiscasset; and �nal tie-ins on Sections 60, 88, and 392 around the new Coopers Mills Substation in Windsor.

“Alone we can do so little, together we can do so much,” inspirational words expressed by Helen Keller on the power of teamwork – a concept Cianbro Irby implements so well. By Stephanie Cote Community & Public Relations MPRP Transmission Line Project – Central Loop

Job 1520 Central Maine Power....continued

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SAFETY NotesSTOP!

All, I would like to give you an update on how the New Employee Orientations are coming along and what we cover in the four days. �e class starts out on day one with OSHA 10 hour ET&D, this program focuses in on hazards that are speci�c to our industry, and the topics we cover on day one are Introduction to OSHA, fall protection, electrical, personal protective equipment, and hazcom. STOP! On day two we discuss hazards while working in or around excavations, con�ned spaces, and the hazards involved in grounding. JTSA (Job Task Safety Analysis) completes day two, the employees are given several scenarios and are required to work as a team in identifying the hazards and eliminate or mitigate the hazards associated with the task, and this prepares them for the JTSA requirements in the �eld. STOP!

Day three is dedicated to rigging. We cover the requirements on pre use inspections of rigging and li�ing equipment (crane cables, slings, shackles, rope, etc.), as well as basic math and rigging formulas. Upon successful completion of this course the employees are quali�ed to inspect and attach rigging to loads that are to be li�ed. It is important that all employees understand that they cannot handle or attach rigging to any load until they are quali�ed by this course. STOP! On day four we cover the signal person program. �is is a requirement for anyone who is to give signals to a crane. Some items we cover are crane limitations, in order to give signals to a crane the employees must understand the cranes limitations, such as rated capacities, radius, and the dynamics of applying or the release of a load to the crane. �e employees are taught the standard hand signals, as well as voice and audible signals. Upon successful completion of this course, the employees will be quali�ed to give the standard hand signals to a crane. It is important that all employees understand that they cannot give signals to a crane until they are quali�ed by this course. STOP!

You have seen the word STOP several times above - this is stressed to the maximum level during each day of class. It is important that everyone understands that at any time that they do not understand the task, the process, or they see something that doesn’t look right to STOP and ask questions before proceeding. I want to thank you all for your help in getting these classes set up. �ese classes are the foundation in which our employees can build from by protecting themselves and their coworkers by �rst being able to identify hazards in the workplace.

Let’s all have a safe and productive year.

Jason StewartSafety and Training Coordinator

more Safety Notes on the following page...



SAFETY Notes...continued

Irby ended 2014 with an OSHA Recordable Injury Rate (ORIR) of 2.08. �at is a record low for our company. �is number is used to measure our safety performance in our industry as well as to our customers. �is number represents how many employees were injured beyond �rst aid treatment in relation to the number of man-hours worked. �e fact that this number is a record low should make us feel really good. �e reality, however, looks a little di�erent. We should all know that most accidents are preventable and are usually preceded by an unsafe act or unsafe condition. With that being said, what unsafe acts or unsafe conditions preceded the following?

36 accidents where employees were injured60 accidents involving a vehicle or equipment30 accidents where property was damaged18 unscheduled outages(Number of reported accidents in 2014)

2014 marked a milestone for Irby, but as you can see we have a long, long way to go. We should all focus every day on making Zero our target on every task we do. �e company we need to be is the company that will not do any job that puts our employee’s safety and health at risk. Target Zero is only possible when we all aim for it. Points to Ponder (�anks MAS):

Never do a task you are not quali�ed to do (as Jason said, “STOP”)Always plan your work before starting work (document it on a JTSA form)Always inspect your equipment, fall protection, rigging before each useAlways test before grounding (If test is questionable, “STOP”)Never work on conductor without being in a zone of equalized potential (transmission de-energized)Always treat the neutral as an energized conductorNever dig without dig alerts (in place and current) (use the vac-star)Always inspect your boom truck/crane before use and documentAlways do a weighted trial li� before li�ing our employees and document (boom pinned baskets)Always wear your seat beltAlways park all stringing equipment on the EPZ matts when stringingAlways us a spotterAlways stop at railroad crossingsNever take your boots o� to get something from the waterNever back up without a spotterNever drop something out of the basket/bucket or structure (use handline)Always hang a handline from the structure

We have an amazing opportunity in 2015 to make this the best year yet. Whether Irby succeeds or fails is in our hands. �e way I de�ne success is every employee making it home safely every day without an injury. Please take advantage of this new opportunity to do your part to eliminate unsafe acts on our projects.

Greg Berry - Managing Director of Safety/Training

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Human Resources Notes

**ANNOUNCEMENT REGARDING 401k Participation**

E�ective January 1, 2015New hires will now be eligible to enroll in the 401k plan upon hire. �e company

match will also begin immediately as well.

Remember, these retirement savings contributions are deducted from your paycheck before taxation which lowers your taxable income.

�e current company match is 100% of the �rst 3% of deferrals, plus 50% on the second 3% of employee deferrals. Employees are always 100% vested in all account

balances, including those related to employer matching contributions.

For additional information, Please contact Fidelity at 1-800-835-5095 or go to www.401k.com



January Happy Birthday to You!

*Lisa Albright. . . . . . . . . . . 1Daniel Arcaris . . . . . . . . . . 1James Clark . . . . . . . . . . . . 1Christopher Smith. . . . . . . 2Ronny Harmon . . . . . . . . . 4Tyrone Shavers. . . . . . . . . . 4*Stewart Angell . . . . . . . . . 5James Childers . . . . . . . . . . 5Juan Estrada . . . . . . . . . . . . 8Scott Maclauchlan. . . . . . . 8*Tony Jolly . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9Coty McGinnis . . . . . . . . . 9Garry �omas Jr . . . . . . . . 9Johnathan Easterwood . . 10Allen Littles . . . . . . . . . . . 11Michael Montgomery . . . 11Terry Nelson. . . . . . . . . . . 11*�ad Owens . . . . . . . . . . 12

Jessie Baugh . . . . . . . . . . . 13Tanner Mullin . . . . . . . . . 13Richard Haigwood . . . . . 14Mark Sparks . . . . . . . . . . . 14Abran Luna . . . . . . . . . . . 15Micah Quiver. . . . . . . . . . 15Steven George . . . . . . . . . 16Larry Herrington. . . . . . . 16*Jimmy Carite . . . . . . . . . 17Dylan Ferrari . . . . . . . . . . 18Shawn Schulzetenberg . . 19*Rick Blackledge . . . . . . . 20Justin Coughlin . . . . . . . . 20James Dickerson . . . . . . . 20Walter Rios-Triminio . . . 20Joel Votaw. . . . . . . . . . . . . 20Joey Cannon. . . . . . . . . . . 21Joshua Fischer . . . . . . . . . 22

Paul Smith . . . . . . . . . . . . 22Alfonso Solares-Lopez . . 23Robert Campbell . . . . . . . 24Kristin Farley . . . . . . . . . . 24Zachary Stone . . . . . . . . . 25Arlen Anderson . . . . . . . . 26Chuck Copeland . . . . . . . 26Asim Dizdarevic . . . . . . . 27Christopher Eldred . . . . . 27Wendy Gri�n . . . . . . . . . 27Je�rey Willey Jr . . . . . . . . 27Jonathan Kiser . . . . . . . . . 28Juan Oviedo . . . . . . . . . . . 29*Bradley Allbritton . . . . . 31*Margaret Rushing . . . . . 31AJ Stubbs . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

* denotes Richland O�ce employees

33



*Catherine Swanson . . . . . 2Christopher Boehme Jr. . . 3 Jose Garcia-Angulo . . . . . 3Jared Rolstad . . . . . . . . . . . 4Jon Settergren. . . . . . . . . . . 4Brandon Cox . . . . . . . . . . . 5Jujit Manaois . . . . . . . . . . . 5*Bill McBride . . . . . . . . . . . 5Charles Tebo. . . . . . . . . . . . 6*Danielle Ziegel . . . . . . . . . 7Derrick Hersey. . . . . . . . . 10Darrick Rogers. . . . . . . . . 10Marlena Baugh. . . . . . . . . 11*Curtis Brister . . . . . . . . . 11Michael Stinnett . . . . . . . 12Eugene Pray IV . . . . . . . . 13

Kyle Scott . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13�omas Gosline. . . . . . . . 14Ronald Manarey . . . . . . . 14Linda Fernandez . . . . . . . 15Jon Braschler . . . . . . . . . . 16*William McCarty . . . . . 16David Barrera. . . . . . . . . . 17Will Henriksen . . . . . . . . 17Tamarcus Fortson . . . . . . 18WIlliam Haigwood . . . . . 20Roby Billings . . . . . . . . . . 21Jonathan Trammell . . . . . 21Darryl Banks . . . . . . . . . . 22Harvey Bonner. . . . . . . . . 22Allen Larison . . . . . . . . . . 22Jose Zamora Jr . . . . . . . . . 22

Brandon Banks . . . . . . . . 23Artis Clark . . . . . . . . . . . . 23Adrian Cruz . . . . . . . . . . . 23Benjamin Rendon . . . . . . 23*Jenny White . . . . . . . . . . 23Douglas Franks . . . . . . . . 24Jose Montoya . . . . . . . . . . 24Moses Navarro. . . . . . . . . 24Roy Montgomery Jr. . . . . 25Bryan Johnson . . . . . . . . . 26Brandon Anderson . . . . . 27Jonny Roberts. . . . . . . . . . 27Mark Embree . . . . . . . . . . 29Joseph Mobley . . . . . . . . . 29

FebruaryHappy Birthday to You!




Erik Goodhead . . . . . . . . . 1James Jones. . . . . . . . . . . . . 2*Ana-Paula Boothroyd . . . 3Robert Bar�eld. . . . . . . . . . 4Derek Gow . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4Logan Sharpe . . . . . . . . . . . 4James Freeman. . . . . . . . . . 5*Bill Joy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5*Kelly Shows. . . . . . . . . . . . 6*Jimmy Gunter. . . . . . . . . . 7Gregory James . . . . . . . . . . 7Logan Schmidt. . . . . . . . . . 7William Ware . . . . . . . . . . 7Randy Cumberland. . . . . . 8Russell Smith . . . . . . . . . . . 8Nicholas Villanueva . . . . . 8Bruce Brewer . . . . . . . . . . . 9Paul Hughes . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Aubrey Hebert . . . . . . . . . 10Tony Martin . . . . . . . . . . . 11Richard Turberville. . . . . 13Luis Beltran-Rodriguez . 15Jason Holleman . . . . . . . . 15Mark Speelman Jr . . . . . . 15Stanley Cline . . . . . . . . . . 17Mark Karren . . . . . . . . . . 17Donzel l Minner . . . . . . . 17�eresa Ortiz . . . . . . . . . . 17Salvador Aispuro-Felix. . 18*David McGowan . . . . . . 18Marcus Swanson . . . . . . . 18Alex Rodriguez-Rivera . . 19Michael Smith . . . . . . . . . 19David Harris . . . . . . . . . . 20Allen Copeland Jr . . . . . . 21Kyle McCabe . . . . . . . . . . 21

John Robertson . . . . . . . . 21*Randy Berry . . . . . . . . . . 22Julio Gallegos . . . . . . . . . . 22Gregory Kiser. . . . . . . . . . 22Kenneth Morgan . . . . . . . 22Matthew Hastings . . . . . . 23Victor Herrera . . . . . . . . . 23Anthony Martin Jr . . . . . 23Dillon Anglum. . . . . . . . . 24*Amanda Lott. . . . . . . . . . 24Darrell Paris . . . . . . . . . . . 24Brian Hancock. . . . . . . . . 25Rex Gulley . . . . . . . . . . . . 26Eugene Curtis . . . . . . . . . 29Floyd Bailey . . . . . . . . . . . 31

MarchHappy Birthday to You!


35



John Castle . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1Christopher King. . . . . . . . 1Daniel Stanzione . . . . . . . . 1John Houc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2Jamie Riley . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2Benjamin Copeland . . . . . 4Danny Navarro . . . . . . . . . 4James Rose . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4Kenneth Brown . . . . . . . . . 5Travis Dedomines . . . . . . . 6Joseph Simonse . . . . . . . . . 7Michael Anglum . . . . . . . . 9William Walker Jr . . . . . . . 9Je�rey Jones . . . . . . . . . . . 10Riley Waters II . . . . . . . . . 10Hope Cardenas . . . . . . . . 11Joshua Collins . . . . . . . . . 11Julie Johnson . . . . . . . . . . 11Yves Louis. . . . . . . . . . . . . 11Alfonso Solares . . . . . . . . 11Ricardo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Cervantes-Roman . . . .12*Sharon Clements . . . . . . 12

Chris Ellis . . . . . . . . . . . . 12Ashley Nalley . . . . . . . . . . 12Bobby Jones . . . . . . . . . . . 13Michael Caudill . . . . . . . . 14Joshua Earwood. . . . . . . . 14Jaime Hernandez. . . . . . . 14Philip Sanborn. . . . . . . . . 14Tommy Jinks . . . . . . . . . . 15Ricky Kosloski . . . . . . . . . 15James Carter. . . . . . . . . . . 16Randy Jones . . . . . . . . . . . 16Chad Santillo . . . . . . . . . . 16Eric Williams . . . . . . . . . . 16Ian Brandl. . . . . . . . . . . . . 17Roy King. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17*Shannon Berry . . . . . . . . 18*Bud Bowie Jr . . . . . . . . . . 19Terry Hall . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19Steven Hamrick Sr. . . . . . 19�omas Heavner II . . . . . 19Mark Hu�master. . . . . . . 19Trenton Kolles . . . . . . . . . 19

Jerry Tillett . . . . . . . . . . . . 19Tanner Olson . . . . . . . . . .20Jason Kosloski . . . . . . . . . 21Betsey Syde . . . . . . . . . . . . 21�omas Duckett . . . . . . . 22Paul Kidd . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22Charles Lacamen . . . . . . . 22Germain Damian . . . . . . 24Rufus Killen . . . . . . . . . . . 24Brian �omas. . . . . . . . . . 24Jorge Trevino-Vazquez . . 25Marco Zamora. . . . . . . . . 25Jarrad Cawley. . . . . . . . . . 26Michael Fordham . . . . . . 26David McGee . . . . . . . . . . 26*Angie McWilliams. . . . . 27John Ross Jr . . . . . . . . . . . 27Fabian . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Cervantes-Roman . . . .28Clayton Grigg. . . . . . . . . . 28Gary �ornton. . . . . . . . . 28Timothy Breland . . . . . . . 30

AprilHappy Birthday to You!



Pictured above is a great aeriel view of our 27 acre facility.

If you have a suggestion or you would like to submit an article or picture for �e Current Flashes, please let us know. Please send your digital photos taken with your camera’s highest possible resolution. Please send pictures with a description of: Job number, where the picture was taken, who is in the picture and what sort of work are they doing. You can call or email Burt at 601-278-7490 or [email protected]. Be safe and thanks again to all of you for your help with �e Current Flashes.

Always — Burt

Notes from the Editor

A quarterly publication of Irby Construction Company.

PO Box 180819Richland, MS 39218-0819

318 Old Highway 49SRichland, MS 39218-9449

Bill Korlath, PresidentBurt Knight, Editor

Absolute Performance...

THE CURRENT FLASHES

volume 58 issue 1 winter 2015 a publication of irby...

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