Equipment World Digital Magazine
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/692436
F or the past year, my route between work and home has been through a road widening project; as the population grows in this suburban area, so does the need to handle more traffic. It's a chal- lenging project; the road undulates through several small hills with deep ravines on each side. So before the new lanes even reach grade, complete multi-layered foun- dations have to be built. Doing what I do, I'm unlike most of the commuters gritting their teeth as they deal with lane stops and rough road. I'm likely to pass by more slowly than the rest, espe- cially since this project has involved every type of equipment we cover, from graders and artics, through excavators, wheel load- ers and dozers, down to compact excava- tors and compact track loaders. The only thing I haven't seen is a scraper. One other thing I haven't seen is effec- tive traffic control. As the project started, there was one gentleman who didn't seem to know which side of his slow/stop sign he should be displaying to oncoming traffic. His gestures were equally ambivalent; did he mean for us to go around, slow down or stay put? He was eventually replaced by workers who at least knew the basics…that is, until I came across a lady the other day with an orange flag…and that's all. She was desultorily waving the flag hori- zontally at her waist, while the rest of her body indicated her mind was elsewhere. Behind her, a loaded dump truck was entering the road, giving oncoming drivers the message that whatever she was doing, it meant "stop." There was no hand up, palm facing in the classic police halt signal. Indeed, she seemed barely aware that there were drivers waiting for her next move. As our Senior Editor Chris Hill outlines in his work zone safety story starting on page 87, there were a 116 construction workers killed on road construction sites in 2014. This figure doesn't count the civilians that were also killed, as they either plowed into a work zone, or got caught up in an ac- cident aftermath. Much of the blame for work zone deaths centers on today's distracted drivers, who seem to be doing everything but paying attention to the too-ordinary chore of driv- ing. All true. But while most plan specs detail work zone safety markings and traf- fic procedures, the low-on-the-totem-pole traffic control person, many times a temp worker, can get scant attention. After all, how much skill does it take to hold a stop sign and talk on a two-way? Perhaps a better way to look at these workers is to consider them your proj- ect's front door. If they're disinterested, distracted and unclear, it reflects on the kind of work you do. And like any work- er, they should be given the opportunity to gain the skills – yes, skills – to do the job right. EquipmentWorld.com | June 2016 7 on record | by Marcia Gruver Doyle MGruver@randallreilly.com This means "stop"… maybe