Estimating
Nothing new to report on the Solar Farm although things are still moving forward but rather slowly. We did have two of our employees assist with the test piles during the last week of July.

The RFP for the $25 million dollar Sault College Campus re-build has closed. What a surprise, Ellis Don was awarded the contract! There is something very strange on the way in which this tender went down. Could it be that Ellis Don had an inside track?

Ken submitted pricing for the foundations, floor slabs and framing package for the new Northern Credit Union building however we were not successful. Draftec is the Construction Manager on this project.

Ken is working on a price for a 32,500 s.f. addition to a building we completed some years back and hopefully that will proceed.

MM submitted a price to Nomad Construction of Sault Michigan for an EMS bldg in Paradise, Michigan. It was for the supply of one Steelway Building Systems steel building.

We are also working on the Invasive Species Phase 1 demolition job which closes on August 25th and we are closing a tender for Brookfield Power for some misc. repairs to several of their Generating Stations up north which closes on August 10th.

Ken submitted pricing for the foundations of the new Federal Building to S & T Group who is the Project Manager. Ken was the successful bidder on this tender and hopes to start work on August 17th.

We are still waiting for the $13 million Algoma Manor LTC project which has been put on hold until they receive further funding. The Algoma University's $17 million Biosciences and Technology Convergence Centre will be tendered in two phases. The first one will be for the piling and foundations and the second one will be for the building. Phase One should be out for tender in August.

New Employees
Nothing new to report here. Things have really slowed down and we have had to lay off quite a few of our guys.

AELP Co-Gen Foundations

John and his dwindling crew are doing cleanup. Dismantling of scaffolding, installing doors and hardware and repairing ongoing roof leaks. They poured the last U-drain and have been doing some core drilling at the Coke Ovens. They had to prepare the Annex area for the July 16th Grand Opening of the Co-Gen. They had to have OCF pour the floor while John's guys hung tarps for sound proofing, signs and got the area cleaned up and presentable under the watchful eye of Brenda Stenta. Brenda did an excellent job getting the area prepared; it actually looked like a real restaurant with tables, chairs, table cloths, cutlery and a stage. John, Fern and I attended the ceremony and the meal was excellent. Premier McGinty, David O, Tony Martin and Emilio all gave speeches. All attendees had a tour of the Co-Gen and it was extremely impressive. Our Congratulations go out to Essar Steel for accomplishing a very remarkable project and congratulations to Emilio and Dan on a job extremely well done. John and his crew did an excellent job on behalf of MMS; they have now poured over 4,595 cubic metres of concrete on this project.

AELP Co-Gen Cladding Installation

We finally got the approval to proceed for this project. Clinton is the PM and Dwayne is the likely candidate to be the Super, in conjunction with John. We now have to order the cladding and complete the installation drawings for the main building. This project will take us about three months to complete and we should have a crew of about 12 men once we get mobilized. We are hoping to have it completed by the end of November. We will require some 120 foot man lifts to reach the top sections. Sure wish that we could provide you with some photos but would have to have authorization from Essar Steel Algoma.

Indeck Keystone Energy Boiler Cladding

It was a very hot July for our guys who were working on this job as the boilers were running and made for temperatures in excess of 110 degrees; sure would have liked the same from Mother Nature. The boiler cladding is almost complete and this job is winding down.

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GoodLife Fitness Club, North Bay

Tim had submitted his pricing for the building shell and will now have to submit revised pricing as the scope of work has changed. Tim is having trouble finding subtrades in North Bay as it is very busy there.

Parks Canada Fabrication & Installation of Lock Gudgeon Anchors

KKC has completed this very complex and unique project. The Locks are now fully functional and operating. The Locks opened for the August Civic long weekend. Rectors Machine Works, Benchmark Construction and our guys did an excellent job; Barry from Parks Canada is very pleased with our work. We now have an experienced lock gate repair crew but when will another job like this ever come along? Rowswell Engineering were Parks Canada's on-site Consultants and did all of the inspections. Due the complexity of this project we had to have meetings almost daily to discuss our next move and what methods would be used to complete the work. Porpealia Repair carried out the diving operations for us; they always do excellent and safe work. We had Richard Wood, the Regional Manager for the Ministry of Labour, on site while the diving operations took place and he was quite pleased with our safety program and work. We also had to hire Blue Diamond to do the above water inspection of the gate mitre from a Boswain's Chair since MM&S has no one certified to use this piece of equipment. Our Safety Director, Bob Ryckman, carried out a Safety Audit on this project and he will be reviewing it with Clinton. A very challenging job indeed, we managed to complete it successfully and gained some new expertise. Congratulations to everyone who worked on this project for a job very well done!

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Brookfield Power, Gartshore G.S. Control Room

Dwayne has basically completed this project and was on schedule. It was a challenging project and Dwayne nicely refers to is as the "Job from Hell." Gough Masonry did the block for the Battery Room and Advanced Interiors was responsible for all of the stud walls, drywall, ceiling and paint. Phase 4 did the electrical and the S & T Group finished the mechanical. Algoma Doors installed the rolling shutter doors and Dwayne was very impressed with their work performance. We are still on site completing some additional extra work. Greg Saunders, from MRW, was the Project Engineer and once again was great to work with. Safety was a major component of this project, as it is on all on all projects, but more extreme on this one. Dwayne had to write JSA's for everything that took place, D we haven't seen the one on porta-potties . Bob carried out a very detailed Safety Audit on this project and we will be reviewing it within the next few weeks. Brookfield Power was very impressed with our work and Congratulations to Dwayne, his crew and the Subtrades. Ralph from Brookfield has never worked with MMS in the past but he was very impressed with us. Hey Ralph, got anymore work for us?

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Airport Glide Path Tower Foundations
Wayne, with help from Bob, Craig and Jamie completed this project in late July. It consisted of the removal of an exiting tower foundation and forming and pouring a new one. We were contacted on a Monday and provided pricing on that same day. Approval was given immediately and we ordered the rebar and started on site the next day. Time was of the essence as they had to set a 50 foot tower on it the following week. We encountered a very high water table and General Contracting had to use their huge 6" diesel pump. All of the work was completed by Friday and we stripped the base on Monday. Due to the tight time lines, we used "Chronolia" concrete from Lafarge which is high early strength concrete. The concrete was specified to be 25 MPa and our compressive strength in three days was 33.2 MPa. This stuff is amazing, thanks Brenda.
Photos:
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Federal Building Foundations
As mentioned earlier, we have been awarded this project and are hoping to get started on August 17th. We have to do the foundations and pour the floor slabs. More on this job next month.

As mentioned last month, we are in the process of updating our training for the guys. We will be sending our guys for updated training on man lifts and forklifts as these certificates do have an expiry date. We also have some guys that require current First Aid and CPR training as these certificates also have an expiry date. Although the Basics of Fall Protection certificates do not have an expiry date, we will be holding a refresher course for all of our guys and we are hoping that Ken James will be able to do it. CSAO has scheduled a Confined Space Awareness training course for August 26th and we will be registering several of our guys in this course. It is only an awareness course and not specific but it will help them to know if a situation could be considered a confined space hazard. We must also schedule a Propane Handling refresher course later this year. We have 16 guys that took a Hoisting & Rigging course from the Crosby Group and we will investigate having a refresher course on this.
CSAO has scheduled the new "Basic Auditing Principals" training course for November 25th. It is a half day course and we will be registering several of our guys for this one. CSAO has also scheduled the Health & Safety Rep course (5 days) beginning October 19th, Sector Specific Training (5 days) beginning November 16th and Simulated Hazard Analysis (3 days) beginning December 8th. We will consider registering a few guys for these courses as well. Although all three would take 13 days to complete (with pay) it would be an excellent opportunity to get some more fully certified Safety Reps in a short period of time.
We are also investigating, with the help of Paride Iacoboni from CSAO, the possibilities of a Scaffold Erection training course. We only have a few guys certified in this.
You should all check your Training Certificates or wallet cards to see if your training is current or if it has expired, you might be surprised.

Derek, Bob, Dan and Fern are still working on our safety training database and hopefully it will be up and running soon. This way the PM's and/or Supers will have all of our employees training records and expiry dates at their fingertips.

And speaking of Safety, Donna from Black Loon sent me these pictures of the safety practices during the construction of the Empire State Building. No fall arrest here!

Conventions & Social Events
Dwayne and Tim golfed in the annual Soo Mill golf classic held on July 24th at Island Springs. Sorry, no cameras were allowed!

Clinton, Jamie, John and Tim will be golfing in the SSM Construction Associations Annual Harvey Buchan Memorial Tournament on August 7th. I think that Tim is now batting or should I say swinging a perfect 2-0 record for rain on golf day so let's see if he can make it 3-0. Ain't no sunshine when he golf's; similar to DP pouring concrete on a jobsite when Fern and I go to camp.

The Construction Association's Annual Presidents BBQ was held on Thursday, July 23rd. Clive from the OGCA had a ticket but could not make it. The Trap Shoot was held at 3 PM followed by Bocce at 4 PM. Since the BBQ is called the "President's" BBQ it generally is the rule of thumb that the President BBQ's all of the steaks. Brenda Swystun is our President this year and it was her turn to run the grill; however she called Rick prior to the BBQ and said she had a broken her ankle. Hey, some people will do anything to get out of the BBQ duty! (Just kidding Brenda). Terry Roberts volunteered to be the cook (as he did last year). He must really love barbequing as he had to cook about 165 steaks! Great job TR and I bet you really smelled of smoke when you were done. I am wondering if there is a safety issue with the smoke hazard and prolonged inhalation of the BBQ fumes. I will have to check with the Association's Safety Committee. Rick and Tammy are to be congratulated on another BBQ event well done. We never did hear who won the Bocce tournament but that is not unusual. Marty and Brittany attended the President's BBQ as well. Brittany heard that there was trap shooting and she just had to try it, all 110 lbs of her. Marty also gave it a shot as he used to skeet shoot years ago. Well, I guess you get rusty as the years go by; Brittany tied Marty for the number of clay pigeons they actually hit. Brittany now wants to sign up for the Monday night trap shoots.
Photos:
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Congratulations
To the Sault Steelers on their 8-1 record and first place overall in the standings plus securing home field advantage for all of the play offs. Let's win the National Championship right in our own backyard.

To Glen M. on the birth of his son on July 7th - Glen Michael.

The August Birthday Club:
Randy D Aug. 5
Bob R Aug. 8
Marty M Aug. 11
Storm (the Beagle) Aug. 31

Mike Moore & Sons Construction's Donation Status

August Clinic Times
Tuesday, August 18th 4:00 pm to 8:00 pm
Wednesday, August 19th 11:30 am to 2:30 pm & 4:00 pm to 8:00 pm
Thursday, August 20th 9:00 am to 12:30 pm

Tibits

Here is another one from Shauna. She sent me a really good one from Environment Canada about the weather but it was not something I could print.

Cowboy Boots
An elderly couple, Margaret and Bert, moved to Texas. Bert always wanted a pair of authentic cowboy boots, so, seeing some on sale, he bought them and wore them home.
Walking proudly, he sauntered into the kitchen and said to his wife, "Notice anything different about me?" Margaret looked him over and said "Nope."
Frustrated, Bert stormed off into the bathroom, undressed and walked back into the kitchen completely naked except for the boots.
Again he asked Margaret, a little louder this time, "Notice anything different NOW?"
Margaret looked up and exclaimed, "Bert, what's different? It's hanging down today, it was hanging down yesterday and it will be hanging down again tomorrow!!"
Furious, Bert yelled, "And do you know why it's hanging down Margaret?"
"Nope" she replied.
"It's hanging down because it's looking at my new boots! ! ! ! ! "
Without changing her expression, Margaret replied, "Shoulda bought a hat Bert, shoulda bought a hat."

We now have 564,196 man hours with no Lost Time Injuries or a total of 3,995 days. We only have 435,804 man hours to go to reach our goal of 1,000,000 accident free hours. Great job guys and keep it up please!

Fern, Marion (Fern's Mom) and I attended the July 18th Steelers game which they won 35-7. The weather was freezing cold and it seemed more like an October evening than a July one. We weren't sure if it was going to rain or snow! While at the game we talked with Rod Stone, who recently had a heart attack and had to spend some time in the hospital. Rod looked very good and said it was a real wakeup call for him. He will be off work for a few weeks and then try it part time. It was very good to see Rod doing so well and he never misses a Steelers game!
And speaking of the Steelers game, I would like to complain to the City of Sault Ste. Marie or whoever operates the Concession Stand at the Rocky DiPietro Field. The last game I was at the Concession Stand ran out of sausages and there were some very upset people (this wasn't even half time). At the July 18th game I was elected to get the food, which was to be our supper. I went there just before half time and was informed that they were out of hot dogs and sausages! I was quite upset as I hadn't eaten that day, and was getting "grub" for Fern and myself. The man beside me had two small kids with him and asked for two hot chocolates. The very young attendant asked if he would take cappuccinos - Unbelievable! Then another guy who was chilled asked for a coffee, they replied they didn't have any made! Why would you not have hot coffee on a freezing night? I finally decided to buy Fern some popcorn. I gave the girl a five dollar bill and chuckled as I watched her try to figure out the change. She handed me my change and went on to another customer; I had to remind her that she did not give me my popcorn. The attendants are all very young and the service stinks! Has anyone trained them in this service venue? I can only hope it gets "extremely" better when we host the National Championships, if not it will be very embarrassing for the Steelers and Sault Ste. Marie.

Just a quick note to The National Group, your Partners for Life donations are only at 9 donations out of the 50 pledged and it is now August. You had best get it in gear!

I was quite thrilled to read that this past July was the 3rd coldest in the last 20 years. Wow, am I ever impressed and it was probably one of the wettest as well. Let's see what August will bring. We are now considering including winter heating and hoarding in our concrete prices!

Fern and I along with Barney, Storm and "Coors the cat" flew into our Tribble Resort on July 29th for the long weekend. It either was raining, windy or freezing cold. We did get our small renovation project completed, well almost. I forgot my mitre saw so I couldn't finish the new window trim. After John, our pilot, had left we began to unpack and put things away. I took our laptop accessories out of the box and then realized that we had left our laptop case behind my drivers' seat in the truck. We really had to have them as we had work to do, I called Darlene at Air Dale and explained our dilemma, and she said they could fly them in for an extra $400.00. John heard about our problem and offered to fly them in on his 185 Cessna if the wind died down. Johnny touched down on Tribble at around 7 pm with our computers and had a visit. He absolutely refused any type of monetary compensation; he's a great guy. Thanks John.
The water level in Tribble is now down 39.5 inches and the Beaver floatplane is having a hard time getting up to our dock! I am going to check with the MNR to see if something can be done, we are hoping that they may consider taking this on as a fact finding mission.