THE BRITISH COLUMBIA JA V ARY 1972

RUDnerP UBLISH ED BY THE DEPARTMENT OF HIGHWAYS OLUME 9" N VMBER 1

Old Island Highway Section NearVictoria Widened by Saanich District MISCELLANY

A cu rrent Saanich District day-labourproj ect involved widening to four lane s,1.8 miles of Highway 1,\ from the ThetisInterchange to Col wood Corner, about 6miles west of Victoria. Also included inthe section is the old Parsons Bridge, areinforced-concrete structure built in the20's which mu st be widened from twolane s.

The I .8-mile sec tion is part of theori ginal Vancouver Island Highway re­placed in the 50 's by a new section ofHighway I from the city limit s to Gold­strea m. The section under con structionis very busy with an avera ge daily tr afficcount of 20,000 vehicles, resulting fromthe rap id growth of the suburban un­org anized areas of Colwood, Langford ,Metchosin, and Sooke.

Left to right , Doug Hill , EngineeringAide 2; Roger Ki ng, Engineering A ide2; and R ichard Crossley , EngineeringAide 2.

~ .

Powder crew on the job are, left toright, Paul Malkin, Lab ourer; Dennis Bel ­ta ll, Labourer; Ed Tait, Labourer; andTony Donaldson , Powderman 2.

L eft to right , Gerry John ston, La ­bourer; Ross Bu sby, Forem an 4; MikeTwan, Lab ourer; and Les Brown, La­bourer, on the High way I A wideningproject.

John Giesbrecht , left , and R eg Worth­ing, M echanics in the Burns Lake shop ,proudly display their recently earned cer­tificates, award ed upon completion of aDelc o-Remy Tune-up course, at Houston.

Parsons Bridge must be widen ed an addi tional three lanes and built over a 48-inchwaterline, the main supply to Victoria.

2

Picture shows all that is left of a picnictable, north of Bowser on Van couverIsland, where it was hit by a car .

Lake Southwick, Foreman at HudsonHope, Fort St . John Highwa y District ,and Randy Clark, Operator, using anall-terrain vehicle, on loan from the For­estry Department, to look over an areawhere distric t crews are preparin g tobuild subdivision roads for the Depart­ment of Lands.

* *

Published Quarterly by the

British Columbia Dep art ment of HighwaysVictoria, Briti sh Columbia

Ray Baines, Executive EditorArthur J. Schindel, Editor

Number I

* *Janu ary 1972

THE ROAD RUNNER

Volume 9

Associate Field EditorsA. R. Lim acher VictoriaBill Ingram . . . VictoriaWayne Randell . Van cou ver HighwayL. Q. Fong oo Centreline Marking, CloverdaleJim Winton North VancouverR. J . Archer Burn sideJ. W. Morris Na naimoM. Butler . CourtenayGeorge Cooper Patrol, North VancouverEllis Meads 0000 00__ 00 Dock Dist rictLloyd Burgess New WestminsterDon Osborne . .ChilliwackJim Ferrier KamloopsEdie Smith 00 Williams LakeMurray Ramsay Salmon ArmM. 1. Newlands .RevelstokeAl Desimone 00 VernonFred Evans --- -- KelownaJ. W. Zaporozan . PentictonJim Chenoweth . . . MerrittDave Roberts --------- LillooetDorothy Wilkins --------- Grand ForksR. E. McKeown oo----------- RosslandS. J. Dixey . 00 .Nelson

Fred Angrignon oo New DenverFred Ryckm an 00 • CrestonN. K. Mol and er oo oo _ _ oo Cra nbrookSam Caravetla oo FernieJ. W. Hickrnott 00__ 00 00 00_ 00 00 GoldenFrances Marlin oooo SmithersJ. C . Bartsch Pouce CoupeHomer Good oo .Fort St. JohnDon Hutton __ 00__00 __00 00 00 00 00 TerraceShirley Hrechka Prince GeorgeJack Doddridge oo Prince GeorgeWayne Chappell 00 00 __00 Que snelGeorge Harper 00__00 .. 00 VanderhoofH. R. Walker.. oo oo Burns LakeW. R. Ball _ oo _ oo Prince Rupert

Th e holiday season willhave ended by the tim e thisapp ears, bill 1 would lik e 10

extend to each m ember o fthe Department my personalbest wish es for a Happy N ewYear. 1 wou ld also lik e tothank everyo ne for a fineeffor t du ring 1971, a particu ­larly busy year. Wheth eryo u drove a tractor, pusheda pencil , ope rated a ferry,tur ned a wrench, or ran anoffice, you e a r ne d yo urm oney well and gave thepublic good value for it.

W. D. BLACK, Minister

Six for emen in the Lower Mainland have been involved sinceJune in a unique exper iment , reviewing both quality standa rdsand ma intenance methods in order to devise better schedulingsystem s and improving their over-all performances.

Other highways dep artm en ts have used similar programmes,but this one is unique because it involve s the fore men in its devel­opm ent . Elsewhe re , systems have been designed by senior staffpeople, usuall y with the help of consultants.

The six foremen have a committee which meets monthly, dis­cusses progress on their project, and makes recomm end ations toa Regional Committee. Al Walisser , District Eng ineer , NewWestminster, has been assigned Maintenance Management Engi­neer to help guide the work, and Dou g Jon es from Co ur tenay isMaintenance Methods Officer. B.C. Research , a priv ate consul­tant , has been engaged to help plan the programme, and one ofits officers, Art Alex and er , is wor king closely with the for eman.

Th e work these men are do ing is expected to result in moreemphasis on tr aining and on the evaluation of ideas for imp rove­ment. In the process many jobs should become more challeng ingand interesting.

Lower Mainland Foremenin Unique Experiment

Back row , left to right, A l Wal isser, M aintenance M anagem entEngin eer, New W estm inster Di strict Engineer; L. L. Lin dsay,R oad M aintenan ce Forem an , New Westminster District ; D . C.Jon es, Ma intenance M ethods Office r (formerly Co urtenay DistrictT echnician ) ; Don Sm ith , B.C. R esearch ; Art Alexander, B .C.R esearch . Front ro w, left 10 right, T . W . Tay lor, R oad Ma inte­nan ce Foreman, N orth Vanco uve r District; W . J. Pullin, R oadMaintenan ce Foreman, Chi lliwhack District; P. A . Hassard, R oadMa int enan ce Fo rema n, Chilliw luick Di strict ; C. I . Fallowfield ,Road Maintenan ce Foreman, Vancouver High way District ; andJ. A. Pabin, Road M aint enan ce Foreman, N ew Westm insterDistrict.

COV ER PHOTO

Th e temperature is 87 degrees- it is dry and a warm wind fu n­nels thr ough Richt er Pass on an ajtern oon in A ugust , N o par­

ticular reason for sho wing a slim mer picture of Highway 3 west

o f Osoyoos except that at this tim e o f year we call do with a

warm thou ght .

3

L IT H O G R A P H E D I N CANADA BY K . M. MACDO NALD. QU EEN 'S PR IN TER . V ICTORIA, BRI T ISH C O L U M B I A.

PROMOTIONSNEVILLE HOP E ,

new Distr ict Engineerat Burns Lake. He re­places Bob Veitch whowas t r an sferred toPrince George on Oc­tober 1. Neville ismarried, has one child,

and enjoys the ou tdoors and sports .fi fi fi

ROBERT E. JO HN­SON, Region al Me­cha nica l Superi nten­dent, Prince Geo rge .Bob worked for theDepartme nt in Me­Bride, Pouce Co upe ,and Pri nce GeorgeDistricts prior to his present appointment.He is married with two children.

fi fi fiJOHN BULLARD

has transferred fromthe New WestminsterHighways District tothe Senior Planningoffice in Victoria as

• Technician 1. Priorto leaving the District

he was working on the Cape Horn toPitt River road project.

fi fi fiNOLAN R. ALDERSON, Machine

Operator 12, McBride District, has wonthe position of Road Maintenance Fore­man 2 at Atlin, most northerly depot inthe Fort SI. John District. Nolan is mar­ried with two children.

fi fi fiW. M. TAYLOR ha s been appointed

Road Foreman 3, Oliver, Penticton Di s­trict. He was formerly Road Foreman 3,Pemberton, North Vancouver District.

fi fi fi

A. F. MORGENTHALER has beenappointed Road Foreman 2, SmithersDistrict. He was formerly Grader Oper­ator, Kamloops District.

fi fi fiC. F. JONES has been appointed As­

sistant Mechanic Foreman 1, Revel stokeDistrict. He was formerly AssistantMechanic Foreman 1, 54 Mile Camp,Revelstoke District.

fi fi fi

BILL BRAND hasreturned to the De­partment after a yearand a half as a Pers on­nel Officer at the CivilService Commission.Bill was Head Lab.Technician in the Ma­

terials Testing Branch, Victoria, spendinghis first 12 years of service with thatBranch. He has now been appointed As­sistant Personnel Officer at Headquartersin Victoria, a position he won in a recentcompetition.

fi fi fiDOUGLAS VAN

TINE has wonthrough competitionthe position of RoadMaintenance Foreman3 at Port Hardy,Courtenay District.Doug began with the

Department in the Burn s Lake District atSouthbank in 1955. He went to Atlin in1968 as Road Foreman, where he re­mained until his recent promotion andtransfer. Doug is married and has twosons and a daughter. His hobbies arecurling, hunting, fishing, and flying. Heowns a Super Cub and is a member ofthe Port Hardy Flying Club.

fi fi fi

JOHN CLARK waspromoted to Engineer­ing Aide 3 in thePrince George Re­gional office earlier in1971. He sta rted withthe Loc ation Branchin Prince Rupert in1967 and spent the next four year s atmany locations in Region 4. In his pres­ent position he assists the Regional Tech­nician with subdivi sions and permits.John is married with an II-month-olddaughter, and is interested in the outdoorsand carpentry.

fi fi fi

J. E. PARKER ha s been appointedMechanic Foreman 2, Good Hope Lake,Fort St. John District. He was formerl yMechanic 2, Fort St. John District.

JOHN MINTAKhas been appointedRegional Property Ne­gotiator at Ne lson. Hestarted with the De­part ment of F ina ncein New Westminsterin 1958 as Property

Appraiser and late r worked in Pri nceGeorge, Port Albe rni, and Nelson. Hewas also the Chief Appraiser and Assessorfor the District of Coq uitlam. He hasbeen a manager of a lacrosse team as wellas District Chairman of the Boy Scoutsof Canada. His hobbies are sports andfishing. He is married and has threesons .

fi fi fi

GREG MERTTONwas the successful ap­plicant for the posi­tion of Property Nego ­tiator 1 in the PrinceGeorge Regio nal of ­fice. Greg came to Re­gion 4 from the De­partment of Lands in Victoria where hehad worked for four year s. He is inter­ested in the outdoors and restores antiquecars.

i( 'i? 'iy

G. S. KIRKBRIDEwas appointed BridgeDesign E ngineer atVictoria in December.He ha s been BridgeInspection Engineersince September 1969,and previous to th at,

with the Bridge Design Branch for severa lyears. Following service with the Britishar my during the Second World War,George graduated from Queen's Univer­sity, Belfast, and subsequently saw servicewith consultant firms in Ireland, England,and Canada before joining the Depart­ment in 1953. He is married with twochildren, and his hobbies are sailing,painting, and photography.

fi fi fi

D. L. OLIVER wasrecently appointed toDistrict Technician inthe Courtenay Districtoffice. Dennis startedwith the Departmentin 1955 in the Loca­tion Branch then tr ans­ferr ed to Gibson s in 1967.

A. R. (AL) LI MA­CHER was appointedSenior Personnel Offi­cer for the Departmentin September. Al ismarried with fourchi ldren . He wasraised and educ ated in

Nelson, and after war service in theRCAF started with the Dep artment inthe Nelson office in 1947.

Al brings knowledge and experience tothe Personnel office with a backgroundinvolving both field and Headquarters ex­perience. As Regional Office Manager atPrinc e George, he covered a wide rangeof per sonnel administrat ion and subse­quently as Administrative Officer to theDeput y Mini ster became familiar withthe over -all administrative policie s of theDepartment. In 1962 he obtained hisdiploma in public administra tion.

fi fi fi

W. A. BOWMAN,P.Eng. , is the Dep art­ment's new SeniorBridge Engineer. Mr .Bowman began hisemployment with theDepartment in theBridge Branch in 1949,was promoted to Bridge Con structionEngineer in 1960, and appointed BridgeDesign Engineer in 1970. The positionof Senior Bridge Engineer has been re­stored and th at of Senior De sign Engineerabolished. Th e latte r position was occu­pied by Assistant Deputy Mini ster R. G .Harvey before his recent appointment.

4

PROMOTIONS NEW FACES INNEW PLACES

T. (TOM) YEARS­LEY, formerly Re­gional Mechanical Su­perintendent for Re­gion 4, has transferredto Region I in thesame capacity. At agathering in the Re­

gional office, Regiona l Highway EngineerL. A. Broddy presented Tom with areclining easy chair on behalf of hisfellow workers throughout Region 4. TheMechanical Foremen also presented Tomwith a plaque to show their appreciationfor his effort s on their behalf.

ROSEMAR IE FARQUHARSON,Stenographer 3, was transferred from theKamloops office to the 100 Mile Hou seoffice, effective November 1971.

n 1, i,

MISS M. DALE STEWART startedwork in the Salmon Arm District officein August as Clerk-Typist 1. Dale waspreviously employed in Edmonton beforecoming to Salmon Arm .

":? ,,(:; "l"r

W. D. CHAPPELLwas recently appointedOffice Manager, Ques­nel District office.Whayne has been withthe Department since1966, and has workedin Pen ticton and Vic­toria. His hobbies include judo, trap­shooting, and fishing.

u u nLORNE SLATER,

a Road MaintenanceForeman at Theti sIsland in NanaimoDistrict, has transfer­red to the VancouverDis trict at Oak Street.Lome was given a

send-off by former co-workers at theNanaimo Courthouse and presented withgifts.

iT iT nCECIL SMITH, Road Maintenance

Foreman at Port Hardy, was transferredfurther south to Quadra Island where hereplaces George Roase, recently retired.

u u uCOLIN CRUICKSHANK, Engineer­

ing Aide 2, transferred from PrinceGeorge to Burnside District at Victoria,to supervise a landscaping crew on thenewly reconstructed Patricia Bay High­way.

u iT uR. H. ROBINSON was recently trans­

ferred from Princeton, Penticton High­way District, to Nelson, as Clerk 4,Office Manager Trainee. Robbie hasbeen with the Department since 1968. Heis an Assistant Cub Leader.

u ir u

A"';"'~

n iT iT

WESLEY METZ­GER recently earneda promotion to Engi ­neering Aide 3. Wescompleted his educa­tion with a B.Sc. de­gree in Forestry fromWashington State Uni­

versity in Pullman, Washington. After astint in the United States Army, Wes, hiswife and two children moved to Vander­hoof in June 1966, when he commencedemployment with the Vanderhoof Dis­trict survey crew. On his farm nearVanderhoof, Wes breeds registered Ap­paloosas, real "hobby" horses.

1. H. (JACK)FRANCE, PavingBranch, Lillooet Dis­trict, was promoted toEngineering Assistantin August 1971. Heoriginally worked forthe Department's Sur­

facing Branch from 1949 to 1952. Hethen went north to work for the Cana­dian Army and Department of PublicWorks in the Northwest Territories onthe Alaska Highway and airfields as acrew chief on various survey crews. Hereturned to British Columbia in 1969,and worked with the Paving Branch asan Engineering Aide 2 until his promo­tion. Jack's hobbies include photography,fishing, curling, and WOOdwork.

iT n nE. O. (ED) BOS­

SERT of the Regionalpaving lab., Kam loops,has been reclassifiedto Engineering Assis­tant and has been withthe Paving Branchsince May 1969. Edbrings with him eight years' experiencein oil refining, two of which were as arefinery lab. technician. He is presentlyin charge of the Regional paving lab .while the Lab. Technician is out on aproject. His hobbies are hunting, fishing,water ski-ing , and snowmobiling. Ed ispresently Staff Captain and AssistantHydrographer of the Kamloops and Dis­trict Yacht Club.

u U iT

C. H. DODGE won through competi­tion the position of Mechanical Foreman3 in Willi ams Lake District Shop. Mr .Dodge transferred from Burns Lake,November I, 1971.

iT u iT

D. W. BAIN has been appointed RoadForeman 4, Grand Forks District. Hewas formerly Road Foreman 3, Ashcroft,Lillooet District.

D. W. WY.BER has been appointedMechanic Foreman I, Stewart, PrinceRupert District. He was formerlyMechanic 2, Good Hope Lake, Fort St.John District.

"'ir iT iTR. E. NORMANDEAU has been ap­

pointed Mechanic 2, Rossland District.He was formerly Mechanic lA, RosslandDistrict.

iT iT iT

P. A. McFARLANE of the PavingBranch, Kelowna District, has been re­classified to Engineering Assistant. Hehas been with the Branch since Septem­ber 1967, and is presently crew chief onProjects S-2671 and S-2971. Pat enjoysall outdoor sports.

n iT ir

A. STAMPFLEE and L. BORGUNwere recently appointed to Power GraderOperator 2 with the Vanderhoof RoadCrew. Albert and Lloyd are both nativesons of the Vanderhoof are a and eachwas engaged in farming prior to employ­ment with the Department. Lloyd hassince moved into town while Albert con­tinues to farm on a part-time basis and isactive as a leader in the 4-H movement.

n -{.r nA. C. NEWLANDS has been appointed

Mechanic 2, Kamloops District. He wasformerly Mechanic lA, Mission, Chilli­whack District.

iT iT nH. D. HEYWOOD of the Paving

Branch has been reclassified to Technician1. Herbert joined the Department's Con­struction Branch in 1958 and transferredto the Paving Branch in 1962. He iscurrently Project Supervisor of ProjectsS-2671 and S-2971. Herbert is marriedand has two children. His hobby issquare dancing.

iT ir ir

V. R. FLOCKHART has been ap­pointed Road Foreman 3, Sicamous,Salmon Arm District. He was formerlyRoad Foreman 2, Telkwa, Smithers Dis­trict.

nunE. 1. ROBINSON has been appointed

Mechanic Foreman 2, Terrace. He wasformerly Mechanic Foreman I, Stewart,Prince Rupert District.

* {{ 1r

M. THALHEIMER has been appointedRoad Foreman 2, Kamloops District. Hewas formerly Road Foreman I, KamloopsDistrict.

~'I "'ir "'ir

G. A. WARRINGTON has been ap­pointed Mechanic Foreman 4, PrinceGeorge District. He was formerlyMechanic Foreman 2, Good Hope Lake,Fort St. John District.

5

ABOUT PEOPLE

LES BAGLEY,Loader Operator, Na ­naimo District, joinedthe Department in1947. He was bornon the Island of St.Helena, off the coastof Africa, where Na­

poleon died in exile. As a young man,Les joined an uncle near Nanaimo andworked on his farm until the outbreak ofWorld War II. He joined the CanadianArmy to serve in Europe. Upon hisreturn he worked on construction of apower-line from Campbell River to Na­naimo and a year later he joined theDepartment. Les is married with threeboys and three girls .

* U 1:LES ASHCRAFT,

Machine Operator 5,Parksville, NanaimoDistrict. Les far m sfor a hobby and is agifted musician. He ismarried and has beenan employee of thisDepartment for 17 year.

BIL L BATES, RoadMaintenance Fo re ma n3, Nanaimo Dis tr ict,joined the Departmentin 1946 after servingfive years with thearmed services inEurope. He started as

a Truck Driver at Chilliwack and worked18 years in that area as Grader and Load­er Operator and as Assistant Forema n.He left the Chilliwack area in 1965 to beForeman on Saltspring Island and fromthere was promoted to Foreman 3 inPa rksville . Bill is married and has twoboys. He has just celebrated his 25thwedding anniversary. For recreation hegolfs, bowls . and is an active member ofthe Lions Club.

of:: of:: of::

RUSS GALLO­WA Y, Foreman 3 atCassidy, is a native ofthe Cedar area onVancouver Island .After serving with theRCAF during the war,he commenced workwith the Department of Highways in1946, was promoted to Foreman in 1947,and has served in that capacity up to thepre sent time. Russ has been ConstructionForeman on various highway projects, in­cluding the roads at Barnfield, Ucluelet­Tofino, East Point Road, Saturna Isl and ,and the present road linking the Otter Bayferry on Pender Island . Russ is marriedand has five children. He likes squaredancing and is an expert at badminton .

DR. W. R. ALLIS-TER KNOX joinedthe Geotechnical andMaterials Branch asan Engineer 4 in Octo­ber 1971. Dr. Knoxis married and cameto the Departmentfrom Kimberley where he was employedby Cominco Ltd .

JERRY D. GER­RARD was born inSaskatchewan butmoved to British Co­lumbia 14 years ago.He attended highschool and vocationa lschool in Victoria and

worked two years at HMC Doc kyard,Esquimalt, before joining the Department.As an Engineering Aide, Jerry replacesMike C. Wright who transferred to Con­struction Branch. A bachelor, Jerry'shobbies include reading, swimming, andtravel.

STEVE G . EVANSjoined the Geotechni­cal and MaterialsBranch as an Engi ­neering Assistant inOctober 1971. He ismarried and came tothe Department from

Vancouver where he attended the Univer­sity of British Columbia.

* * of::MISS EDNA E.

SMITH has won theClerk 3 position inHeadquarters TrafficBranch which becamevacant w hen Mrs.Veda E. Powell trans­ferred to Accounts.Edna, a native Victorian, worked in theAssessment Commissioner's office, De­partment of Finance, before joining theDepartment of Highways. Her hobbiesinclude reading, sewing, and a keen spec­tator interest in hockey and football.

of:: of:: of::

RON E. NIELSEN,formerly from Van­couver, joined theTraffic Branch in Vic­toria soon after gradu­ating from UBC witha degree in ElectricalEngineering. He has

taken over street-lighting and traffic­signal design responsibilities from T. R.Johnson who was recently appointedServices Engineer. Ron is married, andhe enjoys fishing and sports generally.

{;

RICK SLINGER­LAND came to theVictoria Traffic Bra nchas an ElectricalD raught srnan to re­place David P. Youngwho transferred toPaving. Born in On­

tario, Rick moved to British Columbia in1966, and worked in Vancouver beforejoining the Department. His hobbies in­clude collecting old military badges andpainting with both oil s and water colours.Rick is married and has one daughter.

WENDY JONES,Clerk-Typist in theKamloops District of­fice, transferred fromthe Department ofLands in Victoria. Shemoved to Kamloopsin July and likes livingthere. Her hobbies are riding and hunt­ing.

Recent addition tothe Revelstoke Districtoffice is MISS JUDIKUKURA. Born inManitoba, she cameto Revelstoke with herparents in 1969. Herfavourite pastimes are

bowling, swimming, golfing, and skating.Judi is also being sponsored by the Revel­stoke Chamber of Commerce as a candi­date for the 1972 Miss Revelstoke contest.

ED COBEY, ProjectSupervisor, is a long­time employee whowas with the LocationBranch from 1948. Hewas brought up in On­tario and moved toBritish Columbia in

the late 40's . Ed has worked in mosta reas of the Province, including theYellowhead route, the Cassiar-StewartHighway. Cariboo Highway. Lower Main­land ro ads , and Vancouver Island.

Project SupervisorJACK MAKEIV wasborn and raised in theKootenays and workedwith the LocationBranch since the early50's . He started outas a Chainman andhas advanced to Project Supervisorthrough hard work and dedication . Jackhas three children and is presently work­ing in the Penticton area.

6

She

J

"'

FRANCIS PECK .Senior Road Mainte­n a n c e Foreman .Prince George Dis­trict, has been em­ployed by the Depa rt­ment since 1963. Be­fore going to Pr ince

George he worked for the Cr anbrook andFort St. John Districts. Frank is mar ­ried and has one daughter.

u 'i-r c:FR IEDA TOAL,

Courtenay District of­fice, started in Octo­ber this year as aClerk-Typist. She haslived several years inCourtenay and herhusband works on theDep artment ferry Texada Queen .has two children.

-{:(u-{:(

JOHN KENNETHSULLIVAN, PropertyNegotiator, P r inceGeorge District, haswork ed for the De­partment since June1969. He has ma nyyears' exper ience in

the pro perty field. Ken is married andhas two daughters.

KENNETH SCO-FIE L D , EngineeringAss is t an t , PrinceGeorge District. Kenworked for the Con­struction Branch for10 years prior to histransfer to PrinceGeorge in June 197 I. He is married,with two girls, and he enjoys fishing.

u

TERRY J. BUR­GESS, Regional Land­scape Supervisor,Prince George Dist rict.Before transferring tohis prese nt posit ion in1969, Terry was withthe Ma terials Testing

Branch since 1958. He is married withtwo children. He is very active with theAir Cadets in the Prince Geor ge area.

u u

MRS . 1. WASKETTstarted in the Go ldenDistrict office in Sep­tember 1971 as Clerk3 (Timekeeper). Shecame from sunny Vic­toria to shovel snow inthe Rockies.

-rt-i:

ing and sewing.

lY

D . Wayne R andell, former PrinceGe orge District Engineer, lef t, handsol'er job to R obert W . Ve itch, new Dis­trict Superint end ent . Before moving toPrinc e G eorge, Bob worked fo r theConstruction Branch, M errill District andBurns Lake District , Il l' has been withthe Department sinc e 1951, and is mar­ried with thre e children. Wayn e hastransferred to the Van couver D istrict.

u of:: "MISS A. LOWE,

Clerk-Stenographer inthe Nelson Dist rict of­fice, is the newest ad­dition. Anne is keptbusy typing vouch ersand monthly reports.Her hobbies are read-

KA REN DEAN,Clerk-Stenographer inthe Prince George Re­gion al office, joinedthe staff in August197 I. Karen arrivedin Prince George fromVancouver in May,when her husband started work there asa Land Inspector. Both Kar en and herhus band enjoy ski-ing.

u

u

u

u

u

u

u

u uT. FRASER, Me­

chanic, Prince GeorgeDistrict, has workedfor the Dep artmentfor five years. He ismarried with two sons.He enjo ys modifyingvintage cars in hisspare time .

GLEN McPHER­SON, Mechanic,Prince George Dis­trict , has worked forthe Department fortwo and one -halfyears. He is married,with two boys and one

girl, and enjoy s curling and hunting.

-{:( U u

DEAN IRELAND,Road MaintenanceForeman, PrinceGeorge District, hasbeen with the Depart­ment since 1962. Heis Construction Fore­man during the sum­

mer and Winter Shift Foreman in thewinter. He is married.

HARRY PHILIPERI CKSON, Techni­cian, Prince GeorgeDistrict, worked forthe Location Branchfor IS years beforetran sferring to PrinceGeorge in June 1971.He is married, with two boys, and enjoysbowling and hunting.u

u

-{:(

u

u

u

u u

FRANK B. WILDE,Plant Foreman, Q-21Crusher , PrinceGeorge District. Frankhas been employed bythe Department since1964. Married, he isan avid sportsman.

Y?

u

u

u

New face in theGolden District officeis MRS . RACHELTHOMPSON whostarted work in May1971 as a Clerk 3.

H. KRAUSE, na­tive of Czechoslo­vakia, came to Can­ada in January 1969,and started work withthe Reg ional PavingBranch in Nelson inSeptember as Engi­

neering Aide 2 and transferred to Goldenin May 1971. He is married, with twodaughters, and his hobbies are ski-ing,volle yball , and woodwork.

N . W. HARROPhas been employed inthe Regional Mechani­cal Superintendent'soffice, Prince GeorgeDistrict since 1962.Norm handles all re­quests while the Me­chanic al Superintendent is out in the field.Norm is married and has one son.

7

Department Centre-line Crews NoBeauties But Have Nice Lines

Centre-line Marking crew, back roll', left to right, SupervisorL. Q. Fong ; Verll Flintof], Dale Halliday, Ron SCali, Gerry Smith,Art Stevens, Derek Cox, Don Duncan, Roy Hussell, Frontroll', left to right, Barry Carlson, Doug Maclilhinney, HarryDelcourt, Garry Fieldhouse, Warren Stoessiger, Brian Busay ,Doug Rutherford.

Ron Scott, left, and BrianBusby installing paint heater.

Derek Cox, left , and Fore­man Barry Carlson overhaulingspray-paint dolly during regularwinter maintenance.

This marking operation consumes 100,000 gallons of paint and700,000 pounds of glass bead annually. Quality control of thepaint and glass bead is the responsibility of the Geotechnical andMaterials Testing Branch in Victoria. Some thermo-plastic mark­ings are used in the Lower Mainland, chiefly for crosswalks andgore markings, or wherever line markings are hard to maintaindue to traffic volume. About 1,000 6-inch traffic cones are pur­chased each year to replace those lost through theft or damage.

The operation is housed in a building erected four years ago bythe Cloverdale bridge crew and some members of the centre-linecrew. It is 7,500 square feet with a loading dock and paint shedand storage space for 200 drums of paint.

The Department centre-line crews lay down a line each yearwhich would stretch across Canada and half way back.

That's a lot of painting if you are stooped over and walkingbackwards with a brush in your hand but, fortunately, it doesn'thave to be done that way.

Located in the Cloverdale yard , the crew operates under theSenior Maintenance Engineer D. F. Martin and employs ap­proximately 30 men at the height of the season. Striping about6,000 miles per year, the operation is supervised by L. Q. Fong.

Len began with the Department in 1960.He was promoted to Foreman in 1963 andwas made General Foreman of the centre-linemarking operation in 1964. In a general re­organization of this division of the ServicesBranch in 1969, he was appointed Centre LineMarking Supervisor. In discharge of this re­sponsibility he travels all the highways of theProvince in the spring of each year to layoutthe proposed centre-line marking programme

L. Q. Fang and determines the amount of material to berequisitioned and distributed by Howard Toftager, the centre-linestockman. In addition to regular stockman's duties, he acts asradio dispatcher and schedules the shipping of materials andspecialized parts as they are required by the crews in the variousdistricts of the Province.

Because of the nature of the work , most of the permanentemployees spend much of their time away from home, fromApril to October. The work also requires good weather andthey , therefore, work longer hours than normal. The off seasonis the time for the annual overhaul of equipment and vacationleave.

There are four regular centre-line crews with a fifth crew nowbeing formed . A typical crew consists of six men directed by theforeman who is also the operator of the paint spray equipment.The other members of the crew control traffic, operate the painttruck, place and pick up traffic cones. Synchronizing the opera­tion of the spray equipment and the paint truck on highways witha winding alignment and heavy traffic volume is particularlydemanding.

The crew has four marking trucks with a capacity of 400 gal­lons of paint each. generally sufficient for an eight-hour operation.These units are built by the Department. The Cloverdale shopfabricates and installs the deck and sides to the cab and chassis.The spray components. paint heaters, etc ., are then assembled andinstalled by the personnel of the centre-line crews. This procedureensures the kind of specialized equipment suitable to British Co­lumbia highways. Two pavement-marking trucks are used topaint crosswalks, arrows, stop lines, and cross-hatching. Becauseof heavy traffic volume and the use of salt, sand, and studdedtires, some sections of the Lower Mainland must be painted twicea year.

The centre-line building in Cloverdale forms a background for a display of paint trucks and pick-ups, with a lillie of the crew'shandiwork in the foreground.

8

PEEK INTO THE PAST

-1-....- -,..............

Castlegar ferry around 1928, looking north . Note gravel ramp.Similar operated ferry is still in opera/ion today thou gh area isnow accessible by bridge.

...~­Iiil;.'"

Flush-coat asphalt surface is hand-laid on this VancouverIsland Highway bridge in 1928. In those days it was calledSandhills Bridge.

Con crete paving, East Saani ch Road, around 1921. Sectionshown is about 16 miles north of Victoria, near present DominionExperimental Farm. Pavement is still in use today . Note cycliston left taking the detour.

One of tw o units obtained in 1947 when centre-line paintingspread to Interior.

Old centre-line painting unit in Kimberley in 1950 .

Centre-line Painting-The BeginningThe first attempt to mark directional divid­

ing lines on British Columbia highways wasdone 25 years ago with a hand-pushed buggyand a gravity-feed hopper which allowed paintto drip onto a felt- and canvas-covered wheel.A poor but effective sort of line was rolledonto the pavement. But the idea of two

R. D. Page marked lanes caught on with the motoringpublic, the limited painting programme had to be enlarged anda special long four-wheel buggy was fabricated at the Cloverdaleshop . This was coupled to the front bumper of a 1934 Fordtruck which carried a 50-gallon paint tank, home-made com­pressor, and traffic-control flags.

By 1947 the programme had expanded to take in all the majorroad systems in the Lower Mainland, much of it 18-foot-wideconcrete roads with the eastern terminus of the markings atFlood. Paint cost over eight dollars a gallon and glass bead s,used only sparingly, were 35 cents a pound, price s both fourtimes that obtained today with volume purchasing.

Some of the pioneers in this operation were Charlie F allowfield ,Art Lees, John Oliver, Bill Frost, Irwin Fallowfield (now OakStreet Division Foreman), and Don Page (now Region 1 TrafficSuperintendent). Don was to supervise the operation through the50's and 60's until it was taken over recently by Len Fong. Withexpansion of the programme in the late 40's , the old home-madeequipment had to be replaced by two factory-built units carrying450 gallons of paint, 1,000 pounds of glass spheres, and equip­ped 105-cubic-foot compressors. Only one was fully utilized atthat time, mainly because there wasn't enough work to keep twounits going all during the season . This changed when morepaving was carried out in the Interior, and the two-line system ofmarkings and the reflectorized white-line system were adopted.

The operation continued to grow under Den's supervision, butbetter trucks, larger capacity tanks, and compressors were needed.In 1956 large cab-forward units started to replace the old "whiteelephants," as the earlier units were once called.

As the number of key personnel increased, they began main­taining traffic signs and then, with development of the freeway­expressway system , developed into a specialized crew installingall the freeway signing , cats' eyes, and delineators that now exist.

1\

9

10-7 CLUBCAPTAIN ALISTER CA MPBELL

was given a send-off for his retirement inAlbion, October I, 1971, by members ofthe Albion ferry in New WestminsterHighway District. Alister started withthe Department in 1936 at Kelowna, andbecame purser on the Pendozi in 1939.He was made Relief Master on theSorrento-Scotch Creek ferry in 1945. andreturned to Kelowna as Captain of theWestbank ferry in 1948. He later servedas Master on various Department ferr ies.In 1959 he returned to the New West­minster District as a Captain on theAlbion-Fort Langley ferry until his re­tirement in October. Alister has manyinterests. He and his wife will continueto live in Maple Ridge and spend theirtime raising prize roses and exhibiting hispottery which ha s won him much pr aiseand awards. In his spare time he willcontinue to attend "digs" in the area, andcollect artifacts and old bot tles; Severalof these he has made into jewellery andhousehold ar ticles fo r friends.

oCr oCr i~

IVAN WILKES hasreached retirementafter more than 17years with the Depart­ment as Grader Ope r­ator in the Vander­hoof District. Ivancame from the prairiesto this area and worked on the construc­tion of the Kenney Dam. He joined theDepartment as Power-grader Operator 1in 1954 and was promoted in 1956. Manyresident s in rural areas have fondthoughts of Ivan and his grader makingtravelling less arduous in all seasons .Following a party in his honour by fel­low employees, October 15, Ivan movedhis trailer south to be near his familyin the Fraser Valley.

oCr oCr oCr

JACK KORENKO,Assistant MechanicalFo reman, RevelstokeDistrict, recently re­tired after 28 years ofcontinuous servicewith the Department.Born in Perdue, Sas­

katchewan, he moved to British Colum­bia in 1925. He started as a TruckDriver with the Department in 1943.

oCr oCr oCr

FRANK COVEYretired from the UpperArrow Lakes ferrySeptember 15, afterserving on it and theKelowna ferries for16 years. During afarewell party he waspresented with a ship 's barometer by hisshipmates . Mr. Covey and his wife re­side on Mayne Island. His retirementplans include boating and fishing.

GEORGE PERRY,Radio Operator, Van­couver District, re­tired in October. Bornin Saskatchewan, hejoined the Departmentas Carpenter andMaintenance Man in

1960, after a stint in the Navy during thewar, .and a period with the PGE after thewar. He moved to the Deas Towerabout five years ago. His hobbies areboat-building and carpentry work.

ROBERT CON-QUER, Gardener,Vancouver HighwayDistrict, retired in No ­vember 197 I. Bobstarted with the De­partment at the OakStreet Bridge in 1962.The following year he moved to the Sec­ond Narrows Bridge where he workeduntil his retirement. Bob is married andhas one son . His retirement plans in­clude travel, hunting, and photography.

MRS. J. L. (JO­ANNE) VICKERS ,Clerk 3, Personnel of­fice, Victoria, is leav­ing in December tobecome a full-timehousewife and soonafter a mother. Jo­Anne's pleasant, happy disposition willbe missed after five years as the telephonevoice for the Personnel office. Her manyfriends wish her happiness in her newrole .

WILLIAM "BILL"R. JEFFS recently re­tired as Mechan icalSuperintendent 4 (Re­gion 1) after 36years with the PublicWorks and H ighwaysDepartm ents. A re­

spected fellow worker, Bill started hisservice in the Nelson-Creston area in1931 as a Truck Driver on seaso nal workand joined the permanent staff in 1934.Followi ng promotions gained throughqualification and mer it, he progressed toMechanic, Mechanic Foreman, and onto Mechanical Superintendent in 1955,with posting to Victoria. Although hisactu al retirement date is January 31, 1972,Bill had vacation credits and took hisleave in November. At that time he re­ceived gifts and good wishes accorded atpresentations both in Victoria and Van ­couver. Among the gifts was a goldwatch and a scroll for meritorious ser­vice, presented by the Honourable W. D.Black.

E. J. GARRETT,Region 1 ConstructionEngineer, retired onDecember 3, 1971,after 15 years with theDepartment. For thepast 14 years he hasworked out of the

North Vancouver office, and until thisspring covered the Region from Hopethrough the Lower Mainland, VancouverIsland, and the Charlottes. During thistime the equivalent of over 400 miles oftwo-lane highway was constructed in Re­gion I alone . Born in Banff, "EJ" is anInstitute of Technology graduate and aprofes sional engineer for 29 years. Beforecoming to this Department he saw dutywith the Federal Government. First withthe engineering service of the NationalParks and on road location and construc­tion in two National Parks and then withthe Department of Transport on the Brit­ish Commonwealth Air Training Plan andairport construction in the Northwest Ter­ritories. He was in on the constructionof the Alaska Highway and the chain offlight strips from Edmonton to Alaska .Special assignment took him into thewestern Arctic. Leisure time will bespent in woodworking, gardening, golfing,fishing, plus some travelling.

JOSEPH JEFFER­SON, Machine Opera­tor, retired in Septem­ber 197 I at Terrace.He was born Febru­ary 18, 1907, at Lons­downe, Digby County,Nova Scotia, and

came to Terrace in 1962 with his wifeand six children. One daughter remainedin Nova Scotia . He first worked at alumber company, then went to the De­partment of Highw ays where he workedfor four years. He has now returned toNova Scotia for his retirement. Mr.Jefferson was pre sented with a suitcaseby his fellow workers.

After 30 years withthe Department W. S."ROSS" CHARTER,Mechanical Foreman2, has taken an earlyI' e til' erne n t. Rossjoined the Departmentat Cloverdale as aMech anic in 1941. After three years hemoved to Merritt where he was em­ployed as Shop Foreman. In November1947, he transferred to Kelowna High­way District where he has been Mechani­cal Foreman for 24 years. He and hiswife plan a trip in the spring to PrinceEdward Island as members of theCamper, Trailer Club.

10

10-7 (cont.) W EDDINGS"Extracurricu lar"

Activities

OBITUARIESGORDON G. ODBERG, Machine Op­

erator 4, Mayne Island, died suddenlySeptember II, 197 I. He started with theDepartment on March 3, 1965.

FRANK LAMB, retired Yardm an ,Langford, died in March 197 I. Hestarted with the Dep artment in 1947 andretired in 1966. The Frank Lamb Me­morial Trophy for golf has been com­peted for by District per sonnel each yearsince Mr. Lamb donated it in 1966.

FRANK DOWNING, retired RoadForeman I, Saltspring Island, died Sep­tember 26, 1971. He started with theDepartment in 1946 and retir ed in J964.

WILLIAM SAVAGE, 54, Bridge Ten­der, Canoe Pass Bridge in Delt a, diedsuddenly in October J97 I. He startedwith the New Westminster District onJuly 24, 1958.

AL DESIMONE ,Engineering Assistant,Vernon District, wasrecently elected presi­dent of the 70-memberVernon Kin smenClub. AI began workwith the Department

in 1962 as an Engineering Aide.

F. E. (Ted) Leavitt, Assistant M e­chanic, Good Hope Lake, and his wife ,Helen, examine the " fruit of theirlabours," tomatoes and [oat-long CUCUIIl ­bers, grown ill their mini-garden, Tedcommenced employment ill the Fort St.John shop ill July 1966 and transferredto Good Hope Lake in July 1969.

-tr o{r -trSTEVE 1. SVIATKO, District Super­

intendent, and MURRAY D. RAMSAY,District Technician, Salmon Arm, bothhad successful years on the local golfcourse. Steve outplayed many fine golf­ers and became the runner-up to the clubchampion. Murray won the top honoursin the second flight and the FoundersDay Tournament Trophy. Both rec eivedtheir awards at the annual wind-up cere­monies on November 6, 1971.

...j '#'a

'i( 0{( -tr

GARY DRAGAN and BLANCHEDECKER were married at Creston onSeptember 4, 1971. Gary is with theMechanical Branch in Grand Forkswhere he is completing his apprenticeship.

'it £( -i:

-tr U o{(

LORRAINE BLACK and MICHAELHUFFY were married on May 22, 1971.Lorraine is a Clerk-Stenographer in theNelson District office and Michael is aMachine Operator on the Regional mix­ing plant.

LINDSAY KEOPPEL, Machine Oper­ator 4 at Langford, was married toMARIE BICKERKDIKE at St. Mary'sChurch in Metchosin on September 4,197 I.

t:r i:t 1::

LINDA SKARET and PETER KRON­BAUER were married in Vernon onOctober 30, 1971. Linda is the Secretary­Receptionist in the Vernon office.

-Photograph by Jane Sloan

Daile Ru ck and Trudy Johnston weremarried at Penticton 011 JUlie 26, 1971.Th ey will make their hom e ill GrandForks where Daile is all ApprenticeM echanic,

Peter Gelin, Design Engineer with theBridge De sign office at Victoria, wasmarried to Irene Provick ill Victoria,August 27 , 1971 . The couple spent threeweeks journeying to Mexico, Costa Rica,and Panama,

Quarter Century Cluh

'ir u -tr

DONALD A. H. SHERLING, Stock ­man 4, Cranbrook, retired August 31,1971, after 14 years' service. Don waspresented with a spotting scope by hisfellow employees. He is active in com­munity affairs and is presently on CityCouncil as Alderman. He also serve s asa Director for the Briti sh ColumbiaWildlife Federation . His hobbies are fish­ing and hunting. Don is married withone son and two grandchildren.

iT U U

'it u u

A group of ferry personnel and otherNanaimo District members met at theN anairno Courthouse to honour JAMESSILVEY who has just retired after alength of servic e as Deckhand on theGabriola Island ferry. District Superin­tendent John Morris presented Jim witha gift from fellow workers and Depart­ment friends .

HAROLD BAILEY,Road Fo reman 4, re­tired September 30,1971, after 23 years ofservice with the De­partment at GrandForks. Harold wasborn in Vancouver

and at an early age moved with hisparents to the Boundary District. Helived first at Eholt and later at GrandForks, where he went to school beforejoining the Canadia n Army in WorldWar l l . Harold and his wife, Florence,have two daughters and are also proudgrandparents.

About 180 peoplehelped ROSS BOWL­BY, Road Mainte­nance Foreman 4,Terrace District, cele-

, brate his 25th yearJf ----' with the Dep artment,

November 5. Guestsat a dinner learned that he started inTelkwa in 1946, rose to Road Foreman 3,and was transferred to Terrace where hesubsequently atta ined his present position.

TINUS JOHNSON, --, - -Sign Painter, PrinceGeorge District, re­tired November 30.Tiny has worked forthe Department since1958. He is married,and enjoys travelling,artistic painting, and cabinet work .

11

ON THE JOB

Installation of a /50-foot long, /3-foot diameter culvert undera 30-foot fill was undertaken recently by the Quesnel Districtbridge crew, on the Blackwater Road, in order to remove a steepgradient at Whittier Creek. Left picture, Foreman Bob Mcl.arrysupervises assembly of the huge pipe with crew members D.

Robertson, R. Hy d, F. Coumont, and R. Mayor. Right, afterinstallation, concrete apron is poured and levelled by M. Pitkinand H. Johnson. Bob and District Technician Jolin Lay are inbackground.

• I. :-A."!...'..:\,

i'l" *

The Department recently purchased a Pettibone Wood Asphalt Mixer, left. On the rightis Duve Geernaert, Pulvimix Foreman , Paving Branch , inspecting the blacktop ill the FortSt. John highways yard after the mix was layed out and prior to final rolling.

The Highway Maintenance Depot atFort St. James has a /lew look. The oilshed was built by the Regional carpentercrew early in the year, and followingbase preparation by the District crew,the Regional paving crew completed thepavement.

A first for British Columbia is the erection of tubular-alum inumspace trusses as sign bridges spanning 60 feet over Marine Drive,West Vancouver. Trusses incorporate catwalks for servicingsigns and illumination. Erection was carried out by VancouverDistrict crews under the supervision of Road Foreman R . E.Harold.

12

Floyd Erickstad, Bridge Foreman and crew, Fort St. JohnDistrict, just completing concrete pour all the east main pier ofthe Cameron River Bridge, J5 miles southwest of Mile 95, AlaskaHighway . The structure will have main concrete piers with pile­trestle approach spans. District is beginning to use concrete forsubstructure work wherever larger bridges arc required, providingthat footing conditions are suitable.

H . M. (Howard) Ferrabee, Engineer­ing Assistant 6 with the ConstructionBranch, has spent 25 years building roadsin British Columbia, everything but theFraser Canyon tunnel which bears hisname. Howard started with the De­partment in 1946 on the Hope-Prin ceton.Among his assignments as Project Su­pervisor Upper Levels, Deas TunnelThroughway (now Vancouver-BlaineFreeway), Port Mann section of 401 ,Northern Trans-Provincial (Yellowhead ) ,Squamlsh , and Patricia Bay Highways.Actually the Ferrab ee Tunnel was namedafter Howard's father, a pion eer road­builder in that area.

.--

The Port Hardy road crew pose for RR cameraman. Theyare, left to right, Rod Bruce, Mechanic; Terry Hals, MachineOperator; Doug Van Tine, Road Maintenance Foreman; BruceGustavson, Labourer; Dave Millard, Machine Operator; NickWo zniak, Machine Operator; and Bud Loyst, Machine Operator.Missing from the photograph are Wil] Warhurst and Al Williams.

F. L. (Frank) Carr , Road Foreman 2,Lumby, left; A. E. (A rnold) Cornish,Road Foreman 2, Cherryville, centre; andC. C. (Charlie) Hinman, Bridge Foreman2, pose for RR camera at the CherryCreek bridge-site, Ve1'll0n District. Thethree Foremen represent 64 years of ex­perience with the Department of High­ways.

Nelson Regional Officials recently met with Foremen in allDistricts to discuss winter maintenance. Pictured above aresome of the Regional Officials and the Foremen from Cranbrook,Fernie, Golden, Revelstoke, and New Denver. Back roll', leftto right, Ed Sangala, Road Foreman, Fernie; A I Connah, BridgeForeman, Cranbrook; Joe Reed, Mechanic Foreman , Cranbrook;AI Kernaghan, District Technician, Fernie; Harmon Delyea,Engineering Aide, Fernie; Albert Hamilton , Road Foreman,Cranbrook; Pat McCarthy, Regional Maintenance Engineer, Nel­son; Harry Renmark, Regional Driver Trainer, Nelson. Frontrow, left to right, Les Beller, Road Foreman, Cranbrook; LloydAugustine, Road Foreman, Jaffra»; AI Henke, Assistant MechanicForeman , Cranbrook; Les Lythgoe, Road Foreman, Yahk; TonyPup pin, Road Foreman, Fernie; AI Hualt, Road Foreman, Cran­brook; Don Young, Road Foreman, Kimberley; Larry Taylor,Senior Road Foreman, Cranbrook; Bill Sunderwood, Senior RoadForeman, Fernie.

Smiles of satisfaction from VernonHighways District bridge crew after com­pletion of a $100,000 bridge over CherryCreek on the Sugar Lake Road, Cherry­ville. Left to right, they are Jim Elliott,Bridgeman I; Dale Webb, Bridgeman 2;Charlie Hinman, Bridge Foreman 2, andM. E . (Butch) Walker, Bridgeman 2.

13

SAFETY AWARDS, RALLIES, INFORMATION

The MV Galena ferry crews were presented with a BritishColumbia Safety Council gold award by S. E. Blanchard, Super­intendent of Ferries, for their major individual achievement inworking 155 ,107 hours without a time-loss accident. Left toright, R. L. Hall, R. W. Dyer, C. D. Maclsonald, W. G. Drake,Mr. Blanchard, M. Stelmaschuk, J. T. Patterson, L. Guidi, andJ. W. Twibill , Not shown in the picture are V . Bennett, F .Covey, A. Poitras, H. Meidlinger, and H. Nelson.

A Saanich District safety rally produced this mock accidentscene, which looked pretty real. Left to right, Dave Brown,Bridgeman 3; Joe A rden, Labourer; and Keith Banfield, RoadForeman 1, attend victim John Calve, Mechanic Welder, whileJohn Smith, Yardman 2 (camera in hand), checks for properprocedure. The safety rally was held October 20 with about200 employees attending. Even the accident was staged outsidethe meeting hall and many attending thought it was the real thing.

Quick action on the part of De­partment Patrolman Larry Elliottrecently prevented a suicide at­tempt by a young girl . PatrolmanElliott saw the girl climb over theguard rail on the First NarrowsBridge . He climbed over the railafter her and grabbed the back ofher coat as she attempted to jumpfrom the span . A passing motoriststopped and assisted PatrolmanElliott subdue the girl.

A gold cup award was presented toA mold Goodwin , left, labourer on theBurns Lake District construction projectcrew by Wilf McDonald, Region 4 SafetyOfficer. Arnold's regulation hard hatprevented serious injury and probablysaved his life from a falling snag.

* * *DA VID H. NICOL, Labourer on the

Chase road crew, Salmon Arm D istrict,returned to work in November after alengthy illness.

* * *J. GORDON McCAULDER, Plant

Foreman, Crusher Qvl , has been ill inhospital since October 19. Gordon hasbeen employed with Q-I Crusher since1950.

CONYALESCENTSMRS. M. C. GALBRAITH, Office

Manager, Prince Rupert District, has beenaway from work for some time becauseof illness.

* * *MRS. ALICE LACEY, Clerk 3, Prince

George District office, has been off workfor some time because of illness.

C. E. Webb, Port Clements road crew,left, receiving a gold cap 'award fromW. J. Mc Ironald, Regional Safety Officer.A hard hat saved Mr. Webb from whatcould have been serious head lacerationswhen a cutting tool dislodged from itsrack.

-Prompt action on the part of De­

partment Patrolman Herbert Hack­ing recently prevented a doubletragedy at Departure Bay ferry ter­minal. On October 20, 1971, avehicle being unloaded from theQueen of New Westminster slidinto the sea and sank, trappinghath occupants. Patrolman Hack­ing, on duty at the terminal, re­moved his jacket and shoes, thendove into the water and managedto open the car door freeing thedriver before having to surface forbreath. The driver then floatedto the surface and was broughtsemiconscious to the shore byPatrolman Hacking. The other oc­cupant of the vehicle was rescuedby John Konig, who is a qualifiedlifeguard.

The Nelson District road crew wererecently presented with a gold award ofmerit for their achievement in workingwithout a time-loss injury. P. B. Mac­Carthy, Regional Maintenance Engineer,made the presentation.

14

THE ROLE OF THE SUPERVISOR IN SAFETY

R. G. H arvey

(Excerpts from "a talk giv en recently by R. G. Harvey , the Assis­tant Deputy Minister , at a conference of Di strict officials at

K am loops.]

The Department of Highways is one of the largest departmentsin Government and when our safety record decl ines it pu lls downthe whole Government record. Th is unfor­tunately is what is hap pening right now.

I have become convi nced that much of theproblem and its solution lie in the foll owingarea s:

I. It is necessary to be constantly on guardagain st a lack of involvement and a lossof interest in the Safet y Programme bysupervisors .

2. There has been a considerable increasein outside staff in the Department, par­ticularly in seasonal men and winter-work crews, and thishas caused a greater turnover of personnel. This leads toa very substantial rise in the number of new employees,the people mo st prone to accidents. Statistics show thatin some industr ies 80 per cent of all accid ents involve menwith service of two months or less. Accidents to newemployees are generally the kind which could be avoidedif proper steps were taken immediately on their start ofwork. The situ ation requires close attention by all of usto educate the se newcomers in safe practice s. It requiresin all Supervisors, con stant vigilance to make sure thatthese new men realize the particular hazards in our lineof work . It calls fo r perpetual overseeing of their per­form ance to ensure the message is getting through befor ethey ha ve an acciden t. It demands the exact opposite ofthe trend now evident in Supervisors. In other word s, itdem and s m ore inv ol vement , and more int erest in safety.

3. We have a greater number of younger men in our employ­a universal situation resulting from the postwar populationincre ase. A very interesting study made by E. A. Beau ­mont of Region 4, supports the finding s of the auto insurancecompanies that the highest vehicle accident-prone age-groupis between 18 and 25 year s of age . In Region 4, that age­group has almost twice the accident rate of the olderemployees.

However, we do not follow the insur ance companies intheir further claim that the 50 to 57 age-group was muchlower in accidents. In this age-group among our employeesthere was no significant decr ease in the accident rate. Th isis possibly an indication of the rigorous nature of our work .The number of empl oyees in thi s older group is also in­creasing becau se of steadier employment, longer life ex­pect anc y, etc .

4. The pre sence of a full-time Safety Officer might be said insome are as to have further lessened the invol vement ofSupervisors, who are quick to take comfort in the thoughtth at "He's the Safety Officer, he's hired for the job, let'sleave it to him. If our record is bad , it is his fault."

I can't he lp th inking of a cartoon I saw recently based on theold proverb of the th ree monkeys-see no Evil, hear no Evil ,and speak no Evil-but with modifications. It depicted first,an executive with his finger s in his ears and und er the dr awin gthe word Communication. Then the same figure was drawn with

his hands over his eyes and under this, the word Regul ations,and in the third picture, the same person with his hands over hismo uth and this was captioned Direction. And this sums it up .How can we arouse enthusiasm in others if we, as Supervisors,fail co mpletely to communicate with them and clo se our eyes tothe rules and the regulations, or at least to some of them . Fin ally,ho w can we give any leadership at all if we fail miserabl y togive clear-cut com pe tent dir ection. That's what supervision isall about. And, what is more necessary than preventing tho sewho work for us and with us from hurting themselves, maimingthemselves, or even ki lling th emselves.

Now, let us consider what we must do to cor rect thi s situation .

F irstly, in our assessment of other Supervisors, we shouldconsider primarily their supervising ability and I intend to putthe accident record of these under their control high on the listof abil ity indicators . Such ability or lack of it, would be demon­strated more particularly in controllable accidents, such as tho seamong new employees; tho se in which it was proven the victimwas never shown the right way ; tho se cau sed by a lack of vigilanceof circumstances; and tho se cau sed by extreme fatigue, etc. Th esafety record must be considered one of the most importantmeasures of supervisory performance.

Secondly, in the planning of our work and in the prepar at ionfor it, we mu st constantly keep safety in mind . The object is tohead-off an upsurge of accidents due to new or different circum­stances; a sudden increase in employment, for instance, or acomplete change of terrain and conditions. We mu st look ahe ad,see where accidents might happen and, gett ing back to the fableof the three monkeys, have a campaign of co m m unication withot hers, look at the regulation s which mu st be considered andwhich may not have been applica ble before, and give clear andeasily understood dire ctions, placing responsibility for safe work ­ing conditions on those who can and will control the se conditions.

From thi s, it can be seen what the ro le of the Regional SafetyOfficer really is. First, he is concerned with co m m unication andthe aids to it. This is one of his major areas of operation . Heprovides liter ature, films, information poster s, etc. , all form sand device s of communication. He thinks up or passes onpromotions and stunts to perk up interest in safety, draw atte n­tion to it, and encourage invol vement in it. But the final wordon accident prevention is not that of the permissive society . Inmatters of safety, permissivene ss leads quickly to apathy andlaziness with disastrous result s.

There is a time when the Supervisor mu st take over, to specifywhat will be done and to see that it is done .

Second, the Regional Safet y Officer is concerned with regul a­tions, particularly those concerning unsafe practices. He mustcontinually bring these to the attention of all involved . Th eenforcement of them, however, is the duty of the Supervisor.The observ ance of regul ations dealing with such a vit al matt eras the avoidance of accidents should be noted and reported onby all mature employees. Ev eryon e mu st see that safe pr acticesare followed and ev eryone must report it when the y are not.

To summarize it, in my opinion, the key to a safe operationis to have Supervisors who are active in maint ainin g a safe work­ing environment, who are fully involved with thei r men in keep ­ing the job safe , and who are sufliciently int erested in the welfareof those with whom they work , never to leave safety to someoneelse.

15

ON THE JOB

(VERNON B.C.~~~ th~/333 MI~-vi '

_".'f :;:;r...-'"... ~._","",------jIr-

On June 8, 1971, the Paving Branchpulvi crew left Lil/ooet for the long trek toGood Hope Lake, via the Alaska Highwaythrough Watson Lake to pulvi-mix 10 milesof the Stewart -Cassiar Highway. The citi­zens of Good Hope Lake got their first tasteof blacktop. Above, right, at Watson Lakein the Yukon Territories, a small portion of the many signs left behind by tourists and travellersat the site known as "The Signpost. " The paving crew would not be outdone and put up theirown sign, left, made by Mel Maxnuk, and placed for all to see. But how about a spelling lesson,fellas? "Capitol" is a building, "capital" is a city. Okay ?

George Windle, Concrete Finisher, lef t,and Bill R itchie, Concrete Work er, havecom pleted two precast powder-cap housesfor the Cassidy area and Gabri ola Islandin N anaimo District.

A lien Beck , Truck Driver, left, andG len Ware, (Ill exper t on the powe r-sawon road-widening project in the Parksvillearea, Nana imo District.

Solution-Find a SolutionLan guage can be precise, factua l, descrip­

tive, imaginat ive, and lyrical. On the ot he rha nd it can be devoid of mean ing like thefo llowing, part of an actua l direc tive on theuse of certain facili ties in a well-know norganization. It is a classic example of non­communication:

"The concern by mem bers using the... has caused me to reach a solutionin this ma tter .

The following procedure will be fo l­lowed to arrive at a solution .

1. The preparatio n of a proposal witha recommendation of a solution to theexisting problem."T he memo then lists four other steps in

the "procedure," three of them meetings todiscuss the "proposa l." The other did con ­tain an actual suggestio n about resc hed uli ngcertain club activ ities . The whole 130-wordd irec tive cou ld have bee n summarized thisway:

"T he problem is ... We are open tosuggestions. Resch eduling might be o neanswer, "

16

Jack MeMillan, left , and Ern ie Harris,Graderme n in the Park sville area, N a­naim o District, are responsible for main­tenance on about 150 mi les of grave lroads in that area.

Jack M. Taylor, Yardman,Prince George District, gases upDistrict truck. Jack has worke dfor the D e p a rt m ent for 12years. He is ma rried and hastwo children and four grand­children. Jack will retire earlyin 1972, and will devote histime to gardening and fishing.

M ike Maglio, left, and Le R oi Cote,Timekeepers in the Ne lson District office .Mike has been with the Department since1965, and his hobbies are bowling, ski­ing, and curling. Le R oi has been withthe Departm ent since 1968, and he likesswimming and drawing cartoons.

Ted Tri ll, Truck Driver, left, and LloydA ntrim, Mechanic, stopped a mome nt topose lor the camera. They have beenbusy ready ing equi p me nt for snow ­plowing in the Parksville area, Na naimoDistrict.