Matthew Myles Walsh II Founders National Safety Award

Lockport Major rehabiLitation Stage III

Canal Walls

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Cross SectionElevation

In 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.

Project Description

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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Typical Pick Analysis

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).

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.

Phases of Work & Hazardous Activities

Modified Pick, Overhead Power Lines and Route 7 Bridge Clearance

Two-crane pick: Smaller Hydro Crane only had one line

Hydro Crane installing panels under Route 7 Bridge

Hydro Crane setting precast panels under overhead lines

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Pouring Concrete Cap Wall Complete Concrete Cap Wall

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.

Anchor Wall and Tie Rods

Panels Connected by Waler 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.

Given 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.

Management Leadership

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Employee Involvement

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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.

Management Leadership

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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.

Employee Involvement

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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.

SAFETY BRIEF GUIDE Actively Caring

1 NOISE 1 HEARING PROTECTION What safe actions / conditions were observed?2 FALLS 2 100% TIE OFF3 FLYING DEBRIS 3 FULL FACE SHIELD W/SAFETY GLASSES4 LIFTING OBJECTS 4 USE PROPER LIFTING TECHNIQUES5 PINCH POINTS 5 GLOVES/PROPER TOOLS6 STRUCK BY 6 ALARMS/SIGNALS/AWARENESS7 CAUGHT BETWEEN 7 KNOW YOUR SURROUNDINGS What Unsafe actions / conditions were observed?8 CUTTING/BURNING/WELDING 8 SHADES/FIRE EXTINGUISHER/LEATHERS9 CONCRETE BURNS 9 TAPE BOOTS RUBBER GLOVES

10 SILICA 10 RESPIRATORY PROTECTION11 GASOLINE/DIESEL 11 GLOVES/SAFETY GLASSES12 DUST 12 USE DUST MASKS13 TRIP HAZARD 13 HOUSEKEEPING What was communicated to prevent reoccurrence?14 IMPALEMENT 14 USE REBAR CAPS15 STRAINS 15 STRETCHING/PROPER TOOLS16 ELECTROCUTION 16 INSPECT TOOLS/CORDS/GFCI'S17 EQUIPMENT ROLLOVER 17 SEATBELTS/PROPER OPERATION18 FLYING LOADS 18 STAY CLEAR OF LOADS/SOUND HORN How was safe behavior encouraged?19 WOOD SPLINTERS 19 USE GLOVES20 SLIPPING 20 TAKE SHORT STEPS21 BURNS 21 PROPER PPE22 FALLING OBJECTS 22 CORRECT RIGGING/TAG LINES23 CAVE INS 23 TRENCH BOX/PROPER SLOPING24 HEAT 24 DRINK WATER/FREQUENT BREAKS25 MOVING VEHICLES 25 FLASHING LIGHTS/BACKUP ALARMS Immediate corrective action26 CHEMICAL BURNS 26 USE PROPER PPE27 PROTRUDING NAILS 27 REMOVE/BEND OVER NAILS28 SWING RADIUS 28 USE CORRECT BARRIERS29 HIGH WINDS 29 TAG LINES/NO LIFT OVER 30MPH30 SHARP EDGES 30 USE LEATHER GLOVES

Have I planned and considered all health and environmental hazards involved with this task? Have I taken proper steps toward utility damage prevention?Have I planned my work to eliminate slip, trip and fall hazards? Am I prepared to work near, on or over water?Have I planned my work to eliminate struck by and/or caught in between hazards? Have I discussed all hazards with entire crew?Have I planned my work to eliminate electrical hazards? Have I informed others in the area of the task?Do I have the tools and equipment needed to do this job safely? Do I know what my emergency action plan is?Have I identified your experienced employees and explained not to take chances or cut corners? Have I praised my co-workers for working safely?Have I identified your inexperienced employees and given them proper training?

HAZARDS CONTROLSFOREMAN'S REFERENCE GUIDE FOREMAN'S REAP (Review Employee's Actions & Performance)

ASK YOURSELF THESE QUESTIONS BEFORE YOU START YOUR TASK

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.

“Act

ivel

y Ca

ring”

“No One Gets Hurt”

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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.

Application Effort

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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.

All employees, regArdless of title or posit ion, Are encourAged to speAk up without feAr of disciplinAry Action. we hAve empowered All employees with the Authorit y to tAke Action for An unsAfe Action or condition, And they hAve done this with greAt success. in Addition, All employees rotAte through the sAfet y committee.

Application Effort

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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.

Application Effort

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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.

Application Effort

Provide an explanation of the challenges within the schedule and how these challenges set you apart from others.

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 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.

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.

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.

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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.

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.

Leading Indicators

“...thanks for your responsiveness and cooperation...”

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“The Walsh ConsTruCTion Company appears To Take safeTy very seriously.”

Leading Indicators

“The Walsh ConsTruCTion Company appears To Take safeTy very seriously.”

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Leading Indicators

Construction crew, circa 2011

Construction crew, circa 1873,Courtesy of I&M Canal CorridorDriving Tour Pamphlet 17

Crew